Samsung says we don't need no stinkin' sd cards! We'll use the 24GB in the phone and LIKE it! Or, pay even higher exuberant iPhone model like prices for more storage that is more expensive and still less total storage. Samsung ain't Apple and if they did not learn from the S6, they are about to learn the hard way by consumers in force this time. Samsung is about to lose a big chunk of their core install base to the G4 and Moto X Pure/Style. Some will move to the iPhone Plus since frankly, Apple is much better at being Apple than Samsung ever will be. Others will just stay with what they have now.
This will probably get real nasty, but Samsung will lay the usual BS with sell in and inventory load-in retail channel numbers. Those numbers are more fake than autotune and will buy them two months of BS- tops this time if that.
I know a lot of people with Notes, both personal and professional. None have interest in upgrading to the Note 5 without sd slot (a few the battery reason too) and the ones that do no use the pen are considering other options including the iPhone Plus (ironic). Most have either 64GB or 128GB cards and do not want to spend more money when they already have a card to move their media to a new device.
I wonder if Samsung knows it will be bad, but many months too late to make any change and stay in front of the Apple launch? Now they have Moto X stealing some August/September thunder thanks to the media buying in to the Moto X product and concept of delivery.
If the Moto X Pure 64GB really is $500 as reported, I will probably buy that and use my Note 4 as a back up and mainly for Gear VR.
And how can you say samsung will lose a big chunk of their core base to the G4 and Moto X. First of all, combined, those two companies don't even sell half the devices Samsung does. By Samsung scrapping SD cards, that is them trying to be like Apple??? Seriously??? Was LG trying to be like Apple when they produced the G2? Or when HTC launched the M7? What about Android makers today offering devices without SD slots. Are they trying to be like Apple? Your argument is senseless in that regard. No mention from you about Apple now making larger display devices. Who are they copying?
Samsung will offer a selection of devices with different storage capacities like they do today. Pick the size that works for you. Common logic says if you go for 64GB over 32gb then you will pay more. So again I don't see your point of that being Iphone like.
Lastly samsung isn't forcing anyone to switch to the N5 from a previous note device. If you own a Note with an SD slot and find it to be functional then keep it. Who says you have to switch. So the folks you speak with that aren't going for a Note5, that's ok. Guess what, there are many folks who didn't go for the N2, N3 & N4 either, so why expect anything different with the N5???
Unlike Apple and their IOS devices, android/Google offers its users a selection of devices from many different manufacturers. If you don't like Samsung then try something else like LG,HTC, MOTO, Sony or whomever. With IOS you only have the iphone.
Regardless of what people think of the changes Samsung is making, the fact is they will still sell millions and stay at the top of the Android market. For how long is anyone's guess.