Samsung is rumoured to be preparing to raise the prices of its flagship smartphone range for the imminent Galaxy S26 series as hands-on images emerge.
Korean website Fnnews claims that for the first time in three years, Samsung is preparing to increase the price of its new Galaxy S phones – at least in certain territories.
These will include the company’s home country, where the price increases for base storage models of the Samsung Galaxy S26 series will range from 44,000 won (about £22) to 88,000 won (about £45).
Other territories, such as the US, may escape these hikes in the interest of promoting sales. No mention is made of whether we here in Europe will be affected.
Blame AI
According to the report, soaring RAM prices prompted by the AI boom are predominantly to blame here.
The price of a 12GB LPDDR5X RAM module, for example, has more than doubled in the past year, and could rise by a further 40% in the latter half of 2026.
There’s also the matter of a poor exchange rate between the Korean Won and the US Dollar, which is negatively impacting Samsung’s ability to procure components such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip.
Is this the Galaxy S26 design?
We now have a better idea of what we’re going to be getting for these increased price tags come February, courtesy of some leaked images and videos of the phones.
Reliable tipster OnLeaks has posted a brief hands-on video snippet of the follow-up to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra in two colours.
They have also teamed up with Android Headlines to publish seemingly authentic hands-on images of the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra together.
Android Headlines x OnLeaks
The most interesting thing to note here is how the design of the regular and Ultra models is converging. Essentially, the Galaxy S26 Ultra looks a lot like the Galaxy S26+, barring the S-Pen compartment and some meatier camera modules.
Which begs the question: are you willing to pay more money than usual for such a homogenised smartphone series?
Galaxy S26 launch date rumoured
It now looks almost certain that the Galaxy S26 will launch later in the year than its recent predecessors, but when might that be?
Fnnews suggests the launch will take place on 25 February in San Francisco, with the phones then being released at some point in March.
If true, that’d put it very close to the MWC tech trade show in Barcelona, which is happening on 2-5 March this year. However, there’s no indication that Samsung will be launching any new phones at that event.
Author: Jon Mundy, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jon is a freelance journalist who got his start covering mobile games at the dawn of the App Store. He has since covered everything from smart home tech and laptops to food and culture, but always seems to return to his fascination with smartphones.