Samsung May Find it Difficult to Avoid a Price Hike for Galaxy S26 Series

If you are hoping that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S26 series will arrive in the market at the same price as its predecessor lineup, you may be disappointed. The 2026 flagship lineup may see a price hike because of the rising cost of key smartphone components, such as memory chips. At the moment, it’s unclear how much prices might increase — hopefully, it won’t be too significant.

Higher production costs could push Galaxy S26 prices up

According to a report from ETNews, Samsung is reportedly facing higher expenses for parts such as the mobile application processor (AP) and camera modules. These components saw price increases compared to last year. The cost of mobile APs rose by about 12%, while camera modules grew by around 8%. These two parts make up a big portion of the smartphone production cost. This means even small price changes may have a great impact on the Galaxy S26 price.

In addition to mobile AP and camera modules, the memory chips are also a concern for Samsung. The global demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI servers has increased, leading chipmakers to shift focus on production of these components. As such, the supply of mobile DRAM (LPDDR) used in smartphones has tightened, pushing prices higher. Market research expects that the price of 96GB LPDDR5 DRAM has climbed by over 16% compared to the first quarter of this year.

The price pressure is not unique to Samsung. Other smartphone makers have already increased prices for their latest models. For example, Xiaomi’s latest Redmi K90 debuted at a higher price than its predecessor. While Samsung may also increase the price of the Galaxy S26 series, the company’s sales goals remain high. The company reportedly aims to sell 24 million units by June 2026, higher than the 22 million set for the Galaxy S25 series. We’ll let you know when we have new details about Galaxy S26 pricing.