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Samsung Galaxy S26 Series: Anticipated Price Adjustments, Specifications, and Influencing Factors Reported

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Samsung Galaxy S26: Pricing Shifts and Hardware Details Emerge Amid Rising Costs

Reports indicate that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S26 smartphone series is expected to feature price adjustments in several markets, while maintaining stable pricing in others, such as the United States. Concurrently, details regarding the series' hardware specifications, including its chipset and memory configurations, have emerged alongside insights into potential influencing factors like rising component costs and prior shifts in development plans.

Samsung is reportedly planning to increase prices for the Galaxy S26 series in certain markets, including South Korea and parts of Europe, while maintaining stable pricing in others like the U.S.

Anticipated Pricing and Market Strategy

Samsung is reportedly planning to increase prices for the Galaxy S26 series in certain markets, including South Korea and parts of Europe.

South Korea

  • Internal plans reportedly project price increases ranging from 44,000 won (approximately $30) to 88,000 won (approximately $60).
  • For context, the Galaxy S25 series launched in South Korea with the base model at 1.155 million won, the S25 Plus at 1.353 million won, and the S25 Ultra at 1.6984 million won ($1,175).
  • With the anticipated adjustment, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is projected to retail for around 1.8 million won ($1,245).
  • This marks a reported departure from Samsung's previous strategy of largely stable S-series prices over the past three years, with the exception of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

United States

  • Samsung has reportedly decided against implementing price hikes in key markets like the U.S.
  • Projected U.S. retail prices for the Galaxy S26 series are $799.99 for the base Galaxy S26, $999.99 for the Galaxy S26 Plus, and $1,299.99 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Europe

  • Early reports from January suggested a starting price of €1,049 for the Galaxy S26 and €1,399 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra in Sweden, indicating a €100 increase for the base S26 model.
  • More recent reports from France project minor adjustments: a €40 increase for the base Galaxy S26, a €100 increase for the Galaxy S26+, and the base 256GB Galaxy S26 Ultra's price is expected to remain unchanged.
  • Higher storage tiers across all models could increase by approximately €100.

Influencing Factors

Several factors are cited as contributing to the potential price adjustments and development decisions:

Memory Component Costs

  • The price of 12GB LPDDR5X modules has reportedly more than doubled since early last year.
  • Counterpoint Research forecasts an additional 40 percent increase in smartphone memory prices by the second quarter of 2026.
  • These rising costs are also cited as a potential factor influencing memory capacity decisions for the S26 series.

Currency Volatility

  • Fluctuations in the South Korean won are reportedly affecting Samsung's costs for procuring application processors (APs), specifically the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, from Qualcomm.

Revised Upgrade Plans

  • Initial expectations for the Galaxy S26 series reportedly included significant upgrades such as Qi2 support, improved cameras, and a thinner "Edge" model.
  • These plans were reportedly revised after the release of Apple's iPhone 17 series, with Samsung prioritizing cost-cutting to potentially avoid price increases.
  • Despite these reported revisions, the series is now expected to feature minimal upgrades, including a thinner Galaxy S26 Ultra and potentially faster wireless charging, with many originally planned enhancements reportedly removed.

Hardware Specifications and Performance

Recent benchmark data has provided insights into the Galaxy S26 series' internal hardware.

Chipset

  • Geekbench results for a Samsung smartphone with model number SM-S948U, identified as the U.S. version of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, show a Qualcomm CPU.
  • The entry-level Galaxy S26 was also listed with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, reportedly with a slightly higher clock speed than the Ultra variant.

Memory

  • Both the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra models are indicated to have 10.80 GB of usable memory, which translates to 12 GB of RAM.
  • Reports suggest a 16 GB RAM option might be reserved for the top-tier 1 TB storage model of the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Benchmark Performance

  • The benchmark score for the reported S26 Ultra was slightly lower than other devices utilizing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
  • This could be attributed to an underclocked chipset or non-final software.