I can certainly empathize with anyone who would find it too compromising to use a smartphone without a headphone jack. There are certainly many use cases than can not easily be accomplished on a device without the analog 3.5mm jack.
I personally ditched using it years ago and other than the ever so rarely time where I decided to plug in traditional headphones, have found that I don't miss it on my 7 Plus--in fact, actually forgot it was actually omitted. I embraced BT for wireless audio years ago (headphones and in my car) and while it's certainly not a perfect solution, it continues to get better every year and the bluetooth 5.0 standard looks to improve it dramatically.
I was able to pick up a pair of the new Beats solo3 wireless headphones (Beats being far from my first choice in brand) at a steep discount and have been pleasantly surprised. The sound is as good as any other bluetooth solution I've used but what appears to have made a huge difference is the new W1 chip. Range is much further (I leave my phone in the house and still stay connected out in my backyard) and battery life is ridiculous--haven't charged em yet, remaining battery left per my iPhone is 66% and I took delivery November 14.
Quickly switching audio source on any of my other Apple gear is seamless and super quick--no need to go into BT settings to manually connect, just touch the AirPlay icon and connect. I only had to pair them the very first time on my iPhone and they were immediately available on any of my other Apple gear.
Back to the thread at hand...is anyone really surprised if Samsung goes this route? Yes, they have a history of including any number of new software/hardware features in their phones (the proverbial 'throw **** at a wall and see what sticks' mentality) but at the same time, they are the one of the biggest 'me too' culprits in the industry. I personally thought it wouldn't happen until the Galaxy 9 but am not surprised by this rumor in the slightest.
The larger point here though is people may not like this trend but they better get used to it because it's happening and not going away. The 2 best selling smartphones from the largest providers of smartphones will have made this change (if the rumor is true). Yes, there will still be phones that include a headphone jack but as this trend continues, your choices will quickly be limited and consequently, you may have to make significant compromises elsewhere on your phone in order to get your analog jack. I'd give odds of 50/50 that the next Pixel doesn't have one either.