The first big Unpacked event of 2026 is mere hours away at the time of this writing, but while the latest leaks have essentially left no question unanswered regarding the designs, specs, and capabilities of the
Galaxy S26,
S26 Plus, and
S26 Ultra, Samsung has yet to finalize one very important detail consumers rarely think about.
That’s at least according to a new Korean media report (translated here), which claims that the world’s number two smartphone vendor is currently in the process of increasing the “initial” production volume of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. That may sound like excellent news for the global box-office prospects of the S26 family’s most advanced member, but as you can imagine, it’s far too early to know how well Samsung’s next crown jewel will sell.
All about “chip inflation”
If you’ve been following the tech news for the last year or so, you probably already know that all smartphone makers are facing a massive challenge in the rising prices of memory chips, which is widely expected to lead to costlier S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra models compared to their predecessors (at least in certain markets).
Unfortunately for Samsung (and the mobile industry as a whole), this chip inflation phenomenon (or “chipflation”) is likely to continue for at least a little while longer, and in order to reduce its impact on the company’s finances, the world’s second-largest handset manufacturer has reportedly bumped up the S26 Ultra‘s production volume from the “late 2 million units” to the “mid-to-late 3 million units.”
Obviously, Samsung doesn’t expect to sell just 3 or 4 million Galaxy S26 Ultra copies this year, but it also can’t manufacture 10 or 15 million units right off the bat, so this is likely the highest the tech giant was able to realistically go for the time being.
The “initial” production of the S26 Ultra might be enough to handle global demand for anywhere between a couple of weeks and a couple of months, depending on how popular the device will prove, but ultimately, Samsung will need to make more units and possibly spend even more on memory chips and other key components.
Wait, what about the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus?
Curiously enough, today’s report is exclusively focused on the S26 Ultra, so while it is clearly premature to know how big of a hit that model will become, it’s probably not too early to predict that its little brothers will sell in significantly lower numbers.
After all, there’s no reason why the “vanilla” S26 and the S26+ wouldn’t be affected by the same “chipflation” issue, so if Samsung isn’t making any changes to the two’s original production plans, that’s likely because their demand is anticipated to be pretty weak.
The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus, remember, are also expected to cost more than their own predecessors while bringing even fewer notable upgrades to the table than the S26 Ultra, which explains Samsung’s presumably modest production goals for the two.
Why can’t Samsung be more like Apple?
Everyone is still speculating here, so it’s probably wise not to get ahead of ourselves, but despite obviously facing the same production challenges as its arch-rival, Apple is expected to be able to keep the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max’s retail prices unchanged from the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max.
How will Apple pull that off? Allegedly, by playing hardball with parts suppliers and leveraging its industry supremacy to negotiate better prices than the competition, which Samsung… could have done as well. After all, there’s only a small gap between the two companies in global shipments right now.
Alternatively, Samsung could have obviously shaved down its profit margins, but instead of that, the S26 Ultra‘s “initial” production volume was increased, which… isn’t going to help consumers much.
