Samsung’s shock Galaxy S26 price rises are indefensible You Should Know

In a year filled with painful price rises, this might be the worst one yet.

Samsung has decided that now is the time to hike prices across the Galaxy S26 series, its latest generation of flagships. All three models – the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra – now start at £80/$100 more than they did upon release in March.

In a normal year, this is the time we’d start to expect steep discounts. Instead, you’ll now end up paying at least £1,360/$1,400 for a seven-month-old S26 Ultra. It might be the best phone you can buy, but that’s totally unacceptable.

The stealth price hike

One of the things that frustrates me most about this is the underhanded way Samsung has gone about it.

There was no warning, no press release and zero acknowledgement of the price rises. It just snuck them out and hoped people wouldn’t notice.

Well, they have. It’s now been reported widely, but leaving the media to discover it isn’t a good look for Samsung.

Honouring the price that the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra were advertised at in March is the very least that Samsung could do

I’m not saying that being open and honest with customers would’ve justified the price rises, but it’d at least look as if it cared. This cowardly approach suggests consumers are nothing more than a money-spinner to Samsung.

If you’re a fan of what Galaxy phones bring to the table (I certainly am), by all means keep using them. But the company has proven that it doesn’t deserve your loyalty.

RAMageddon is no excuse

Press release or not, Samsung’s justification for the price rises will be obvious: RAMageddon.

The ongoing global RAM shortage has sent prices of the crucial phone component skyrocketing. As a result, 2026 has been a year of minor upgrades and price rises across the smartphone market. Most people shouldn’t buy a new phone this year.

However, I’m not convinced. I don’t doubt that the cost of producing smartphones is much higher than it was a year ago, and I accept that new phones might need to be more expensive than their predecessors.

But increasing the cost of existing phones is where I draw the line. Honouring the price that the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra were advertised at in March is the very least that Samsung could do.

the Galaxy S26 price rises are a double whammy for prospective buyers

We’re not talking about a small brand trying to make ends meet here. Samsung is a massive, global corporation with the highest smartphone market share of any company on the planet (per Counterpoint). In the second quarter of 2026 (April-June), the firm reported record-high revenue and a mind-boggling KRW 89.5 trillion (approx. £50 billion/$66 billion) in operating profits.

Admittedly, its devices business lost KRW 0.8 trillion (approx. £449 million/$593 million), which is likely what prompted the panic.

But you’re telling me that it couldn’t have absorbed more of the extra production costs to avoid passing them on to the consumer? Samsung has already increased the gen-on-gen prices of basically every phone it’s launched in 2026.

Samsung is far from the first company to make existing phones more costly in 2026. The most high-profile example is Apple, which increased the price of the excellent iPhone 17 by £100/$100 while announcing the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.

However, it at least decided to wait a full year after launch, giving plenty of time for consumers to see what was happening in the phone market and secure the iPhone 17 at a great price. It also explicitly warned consumers months ahead of time, so it would’ve been a surprise for the price of the iPhone 17 not to go up.

I’m not saying raising prices is right, but it’s nowhere near as subversive as Samsung’s approach.

Ultimately, the Galaxy S26 price rises are a double whammy for prospective buyers. Not only are you now paying significantly more for a phone that’s been out for seven months, Samsung didn’t even have the decency to acknowledge it.

RAMageddon or not, this can’t be the new normal. So I’m calling it out. Samsung, you make great phones, but you must do better.