Ahead of the first Galaxy Unpacked event of the year, Samsung’s mobile division is struggling to finalise the pricing for the Galaxy S26. We’ve read plenty of reports about the pricing, but this one sounds, well, more realistic.
The Korean smartphone maker is grappling with two main issues here. First, memory makers are focusing on enterprise-grade memory that requires high-bandwidth chips, which usually pay better than consumer-grade chips.
Memory market pressures complicate pricing
As a result, the supply of general-purpose DRAM, the kind used in smartphones, has declined sharply, leading to dramatic price increases. The Korean publication IT Chosun cites an industry insider stating that the company’s MX division can’t purchase “Exynos at a cheaper price” than competitors.
Further, Samsung’s leadership is also concerned about rumors that Apple will retain the iPhone 17 Pro’s pricing for the iPhone 18 Pro models (due for launch later this year).
The Cupertino giant has reportedly leveraged its position as one of the largest smartphone-grade memory customers to stabilize the otherwise inflated prices.
Further, by controlling prices, the company could capture a larger share of the flagship market, where all companies are passing on increases in component costs to end consumers.
Last-minute price decisions remain possible
Hence, the exponential increase in the price of memory chips and Apple’s rumored decision to stick with its old-time pricing have Samsung’s board worried about the Galaxy S26’s prices.
The report notes that the company considered a price increase “until the day before the event” for the Galaxy S25 series, and given the current market conditions, that might be the case for the Galaxy S26’s launch as well.
So, while the reports about the baseline Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus retaining their pricing and the Galaxy S26 Ultra being cheaper for the 256GB and 512GB variants could be true, there’s still a chance that the company could raise prices at the very last minute.
For now, the pre-order benefits of the Galaxy S26 include trade-in values of up to $900 and non-trade-in credit of up to $150; there are no free storage bumps available this year, at least none that the company has announced yet.