When Nokia started shipping smartphones with optical image stabilization, the first question everyone asked was when will the technology come to Android? LG was the first to strike, putting it in both the G2 and the Nexus 5. The assumption was that Samsung’s next flagship phone, the Galaxy S5, would also come with OIS, but according to ETNews, that’s no longer the case.

The Korean publication says Samsung is having issues making 16 megapixel camera modules with OIS thin enough. The modules are special because they require processing to achieve stability. Current estimates are that Samsung will nail their OIS problems by June 2014, which is too late to make it for the S5’s launch.

How credible is this rumor? I remember when ETNews said that the Galaxy Note 3 was going to have OIS, but then they retracted that story just a handful of weeks before the Note 3’s launch, saying that Samsung couldn’t make it happen. And you know what, they were right. If the same thing happens next year, and ETNews changes their tune about OIS again, I’m not going to be surprised, these are rumors after all.

Is OIS even important? Yes, it’s the next logical evolution of smartphone cameras. Phones by their very nature are small and light, so a person’s movements naturally screw up the photo. With OIS, that gets fixed, plus it allows a camera to keep the shutter open for longer, collecting more light, and thus producing clearer pictures.

Expect people to make fun of Samsung if the GS5 lacks OIS, I promise you they will.