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Samsung adds $100 to most Galaxy S26 models in its second increase this year
Samsung has raised US list prices on nearly every Galaxy S26 phone by $100, taking the base 256GB model from $899 to $999. For teams buying flagships for staff, each base handset now costs $200 more than an S25 did at launch.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- The 1TB Galaxy S26 Ultra rose by $200 to $1,999, twice the increase applied to the other six configurations.
- When the S26 line launched earlier this year at $100 above the S25, Samsung said higher RAM prices were partly to blame.
- The $699 Galaxy S26 FE is the only S26 model still selling at its launch price.
- Apple raised prices last month on older phones already on sale, including the iPhone 16, iPhone 17e, iPhone 17 and iPhone Air.
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Why it matters
- cost A base-model refresh budgeted at S25 launch prices now runs 25% over, and the shortfall falls on whoever set this year's device line.
- contradiction Gizmodo reports RAM as Samsung's reason for the launch premium while The Verge says Samsung called RAM only partly to blame, so a buyer cannot tell how much of the S26 price tracks memory costs.
- decision With the FE now $300 below the base S26, up from $200, the cheaper phone becomes the first option to test for any role without a flagship-only need.
- precedent Apple, Google and Samsung have all raised phone prices this year, so a launch list price is a weak anchor for a 12-month device budget.
A buyer who quoted 100 base Galaxy S26 phones for new hires last week now holds a quote that is $10,000 short [6]. Against 100 base S25s at their launch price, the same order runs $20,000 higher [6].
The Verge credits the report of this week's increase to Phone Arena, and neither it nor Gizmodo reports a reason from Samsung [1][2]. Samsung's stated RAM explanation dates from the launch [5].
I think the new price list shows a flat list-price step, and a flat step tells a buyer little about what memory costs Samsung. Six of the seven configurations rose by exactly $100, whether the phone started at $899 or at $1,499 [3]. The increase works out to 11.1% on the base S26 and 6.7% on the 512GB Ultra [2][3]. On the Ultra, the charge for going from 512GB to 1TB rose from $300 to $400 [4].
Memory may be part of it. The sources support a narrower claim: vendors are raising prices on hardware, including products with little memory in them. Apple raised prices on almost all of its laptops and desktops in June, by as much as $500 on some [11]. It also launched the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max last month at $100 above the models they replaced [10]. Gizmodo reports that Amazon's Kindle and Echo devices, which it says have very little RAM, have gone up in recent months too [13].
For a fleet, I'd sort each role on two axes: whether the job needs something only the S26, S26 Plus or Ultra offers, and whether the purchase date can move. A flagship need on a fixed date gets bought at the new list price, with no budget line assuming the old price returns. A flagship need with a flexible date can wait for a sale. Apart from the FE, Gizmodo says, a sale is the only way into a new S26 for less than about $1,000 [17]. Against that, Gizmodo's advice is to buy now, writing that new tech "inevitably gets more expensive in the next few months" [16]. Roles with no flagship need, on either date, go to the FE.
I'd make the FE the default and treat flagships as exceptions that someone signs for. The cost of that default is paying more than the S25 FE cost for a phone that The Verge's Dominic Preston said is essentially "the same phone as last year's" [8][9].
What to watch
- Whether Samsung reprices the $699 S26 FE or the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which Gizmodo says is safe from an increase only "for now".
- Whether Samsung gives a reason for this week's increase, and whether it names RAM again.
- Whether the increase, reported for Samsung's US store, reaches other markets.