The smartphone industry has been affected by rising DRAM and NAND flash prices, and the impact is slowly (but steadily) affecting the top players.
Brands like Apple and Google, which launched their latest flagships a few months ago, seem to have temporarily escaped this situation, but the company with the highest market share is currently in the crosshairs: Samsung.
The Korean tech giant is preparing its international supply chain and retail network to start selling the Galaxy S26 series in less than two months. However, due to the timing of the launch, it seems difficult to determine the retail price of the smartphones in the series. Why do I say this?
Most recently we heard that the company is sticking to the old sales prices for the Galaxy S26 series, especially in the USA. This was somewhat encouraging for buyers, especially since the upcoming series might not include enough upgrades to justify a price increase.
However, the smartphone giant still planned to increase prices for its home market.
A higher price with fewer pre-order benefits could make the buyer think twice
Now, a new report from inews24.com (translated from Korean) says that the Galaxy S26 Ultra “could return to its US price of $1,399 after a six-year hiatus.” For those staying in the loop, it was the Galaxy S20 Ultra (128GB) that launched in the region for $1,399.
According to the report, the Galaxy S26 Ultra (256GB) could be available at launch for $1,399, which is $100 more than the launch price of the S25 Ultra. If the Ultra costs $100 more, we could also see a $50 price increase for the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus.
Additionally, the company may not offer one of its most popular early bird offers – a free storage upgrade to the higher variant. A higher price combined with fewer launch offers could make early adopters think twice about the update, which in turn slows the speed at which smartphones come off the shelves.
Even if the company manages to maintain the S26 Ultra’s launch price at $1,299, it may not be able to offer early buyers lucrative pre-order offers like storage upgrades or free accessories.
Furthermore, the storage crisis is progressing at full speed and is hitting companies like Samsung harder than initially expected. Going forward, I would be skeptical about the retail pricing of the Galaxy S26 series and the pre-booking offers the company is offering when announcing the phone.
