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Samsung Galaxy S26 Series to Reportedly See Price Hike Amid Rising Chip Costs, Raising Competitive Concerns

Samsung Galaxy S26 Series to Reportedly See Price Hike Amid Rising Chip Costs, Raising Competitive Concerns

A price hike for the Galaxy S26 series could be difficult to avoid, even if Samsung would prefer to maintain stable pricing.

Written by Shaurya Tomer, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 18 February 2026 12:10 IST

Samsung Galaxy S26 Series to Reportedly See Price Hike Amid Rising Chip Costs, Raising Competitive Concerns

Photo Credit: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S26 series is expected to succeed this year's Galaxy S25 lineup (pictured)

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Highlights

Rising chip, memory costs are cited as reasons for Galaxy S26 price hike
Higher wafer and yield costs are reportedly involved
TM Roh is said to be concerned about pricing impact

The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is set to be launched at the Galaxy Unpacked event scheduled for next week. Ahead of its anticipated debut, a new report from South Korea suggests that a price hike now looks increasingly likely for the next-generation Galaxy S series lineup. While there are concerns among the tech giant's mobile leadership about weakening its competitive position in the premium segment, it might not be able to absorb the additional expenses caused by increasing memory component costs.

Price Hike for the Galaxy S26 Series

According to a report by South Korean publication IT Chosun, Samsung is grappling with soaring costs tied to advanced chip production. The standard Samsung Galaxy S26 is expected to use the Exynos 2600 processor in several markets, which is rumoured to be built on its 2nm GAA (Gate All Around) process.

This transition is reported to substantially increase wafer and yield costs compared to previous nodes.

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Samsung reportedly intended to hike the price of the Galaxy S25 series last year, but the planned move was prevented due to a last-minute intervention from TM Roh, the Head of Mobile eXperience (MX) and Device eXperience (DX) Divisions, and President and co-CEO of Samsung Electronics.

This time around, however, absorbing the additional manufacturing costs may not be feasible for the company. The report suggests that a price hike is becoming difficult to avoid, even if Samsung would prefer to maintain stable pricing to protect market share.

The report also mentioned that TM Roh is concerned about Samsung's competitive imbalance with Apple. The latter has been widely rumoured to launch the iPhone 18 series in September at a similar price as the current iPhone 17 lineup. Thus, any price increase for the Galaxy S26 lineup could potentially widen the pricing gap and affect Samsung's competitiveness in the ultra-premium segment.

The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 will be held on February 25 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET (11:30 pm IST) in San Francisco, California. The tech giant's upcoming flagship Galaxy S lineup is expected to comprise three models — Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra. With less than two weeks remaining, we can expect more details to surface in the coming days.

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Further reading: Samsung Galaxy S26, Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S26 series, Samsung Galaxy Unpacked

Shaurya Tomer

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Shaurya Tomer is a Sub Editor at Gadgets 360 with 2 years of experience across a diverse spectrum of topics. With a particular focus on smartphones, gadgets and the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), he often likes to explore the industry's intricacies and innovations – whether dissecting the latest smartphone release or exploring the ethical implications of AI advancements. In his free time, he often embarks on impromptu road trips to unwind, recharge, and ...More