SEOUL, Feb. 26 (GeokHub) — Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled its flagship Galaxy S26 smartphone series, raising prices for select models in the United States and South Korea as soaring memory chip costs pressure margins across the industry.
The launch comes at a critical moment for Samsung, which lost its global smartphone leadership last year to Apple following strong iPhone demand in China and India.
Pricing Strategy Tests Consumer Demand
Samsung priced the base Galaxy S26 at $899 in the United States — a 4.7% increase from its predecessor — while the S26 Plus rose 10% to $1,099. The Ultra model’s price remained unchanged. In South Korea, the base model saw an 8.6% price increase.
The pricing adjustments reflect mounting cost pressures tied to a global memory chip surge fueled by artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion.
Market research firm TrendForce estimates that conventional DRAM contract prices could jump between 90% and 95% during the January–March quarter compared to the final quarter of 2025, underscoring the severity of supply constraints.
AI Integration Takes Center Stage
The Galaxy S26 series integrates artificial intelligence features from Perplexity AI alongside Google’s Gemini platform and an upgraded Bixby assistant.
Samsung said the S26 Ultra introduces what it describes as the industry’s first built-in mobile privacy display, limiting side viewing angles to enhance user data protection.
The company plans to begin global rollout of the S26 lineup on March 11.
Chip Shortage Reshapes Strategy
Last month, Samsung warned of a worsening chip shortage driven by surging AI demand. Technology giants such as Meta, Google and Microsoft have accelerated investments in AI infrastructure, absorbing much of the world’s memory supply.
Chipmakers are increasingly prioritizing high-margin data center components such as high-bandwidth memory over consumer electronics, contributing to tighter supply and higher costs for smartphone manufacturers.
In a notable shift, Samsung equipped some S26 models with its in-house Exynos processors after relying primarily on Qualcomm Snapdragon chips for the Galaxy S25 series. Analysts say the move could support Samsung’s chip design business while helping manage mobile division margins.
Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently acknowledged that memory chip prices are expected to rise sharply but declined to say whether Apple would adjust pricing in response.
