Samsung Said to Consider Raising Galaxy S26 Prices in South Korea Next Month

Citing mobile communications industry sources, South Korean media reported that a certain mobile carrier has notified retailers that the retail prices of all Galaxy S26 series models will be raised uniformly by 149,600 Korean won starting October 1.

Under the adjustment plan, the launch price of the standard Galaxy S26 (256GB) will rise from the current 1,254,000 won to 1,403,600 won. The mid-tier Galaxy S26 Plus (256GB) will be adjusted from 1,452,000 won to 1,601,600 won. The top-end Galaxy S26 Ultra (256GB) will rise from the current 1,797,400 won to 1,947,000 won, meaning even the base-capacity version will approach 2 million won.

Industry insiders believe that Samsung Electronics may find it difficult to maintain its existing pricing structure due to recent rise in mobile application processor unit prices, the burden of memory semiconductor cost brought by high-performance on-device AI feature, and the continued impact of high exchange rates. The main drivers of this price increase are rising cost in the global mobile component market and Apple's pricing strategy. Although there is a price gap of about 200,000 won between the base iPhone 17 and the existing base Samsung Galaxy S26, this gap will narrow to about 40,000 won after the price increase.

Samsung Electronics is said to be cautious about officially confirming the retail prices of the Galaxy S26 series. A Samsung official said that while the company is indeed internally considering whether to adjust prices due to cost pressure, no final decision has been made yet.