Reports in recent days have suggested smartphone price hikes are expected as the AI industry is consuming memory and storage chips, with suppliers unable to keep up with demand for these key components. Echoing those claims, an ETNews story delivers a Galaxy S26 price rumor that fans of Samsung’s flagship devices will not appreciate. Samsung is expected to increase starting prices for the three Galaxy S26 models, though the report makes no mention of actual prices for the Korean market or other major international markets. This year, Samsung has kept the Galaxy S25 price structure identical to the Galaxy S24 series, a strategy its main rivals have also applied.
For example, the iPhone has had the same $799 starting price for years, though Apple made changes to its lineup in recent years that impacted the average sales price. ETNews says Apple has already raised the price of the iPhone 17 series, but that’s not an entirely accurate account of what happened. Apple kept the same price points as the iPhone 16 series, but eliminated the cheaper 128GB versions.
Apple’s iPhone price model
The base iPhone 17 was upgraded to 256GB of storage, but the price stayed the same ($799 in the U.S.). The iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max also start at 256GB of storage, but the prices match their predecessors. The Air doesn’t have a direct predecessor, but the 256GB iPhone 16 Plus had the same $999 price as the 256GB Air model. Apple first used this pricing strategy in 2023 for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That said, buyers who would have purchased the 128GB versions of the Air and Pro models have to pay more for a 256GB model.
Apple upgraded its flagship phones to a minimum of 256GB of storage later than Samsung, which upgraded the Plus and Ultra to a minimum of 256GB of storage in 2023. Also, Samsung routinely offers early adopters double the storage for free during the preorder period. Storage is one of the key smartphone components that’s under pressure from AI firms building larger data centers. RAM is another smartphone part that’s seeing pressure from the same AI companies. Chip vendors have been raising prices in response. Flagship mobile chips, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated, are also getting more expensive.
How much will the Galaxy S26 cost?
ETNews cites reports from research firms that say LPDDR5 RAM for mobile devices has seen price hikes of more than 16% compared to the first quarter of the year. The site also notes that Samsung has already discussed price increases for mobile processors. According to Samsung Electronics’ semi-annual report released in August, mobile chips increased 12% compared to the annual average from previous years. Samsung is expected to use its own Exynos 2600 chip in the Galaxy S26 series. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the other option. Samsung’s report also noted price increases for other key components. Mobile camera modules rose by 7% compared to last year, for instance.
The Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra cost $799.99, $999.99, and $1,299.99. The base Galaxy S25 model still starts at 128GB of storage, however. It’s unclear what the Galaxy S26 models will cost or whether Samsung will try to replicate Apple’s strategy in any way. Samsung last raised the price for a Galaxy S model in 2024, when the Galaxy S24 Ultra got a $100 price bump. That was a few months after Apple made 256GB the minimum storage tier for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which cost $100 more than the 128GB version.
Galaxy S26 pricing aside, ETNews says Apple’s iPhone 18 series should also introduce price hikes. Chinese vendors have raised prices or plan to. Xiaomi increased the price of the Redmi K90 handset released in October. Vivo and Oppo are also expected to raise prices.
