Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled its new Galaxy S26 smartphone lineup, increasing prices for some models in the United States and South Korea as rising memory chip costs put pressure on profit margins.
The launch also comes as Samsung seeks to regain momentum in the global smartphone market after losing the top position last year to Apple, which benefited from strong iPhone demand in China and India.
Samsung priced the base Galaxy S26 at $899 in the United States, representing a 4.7% increase from its predecessor, while the Galaxy S26 Plus will sell for $1,099, a 10% rise. The price of the Galaxy S26 Ultra remains unchanged.
In South Korea, Samsung raised the price of the base S26 model by 8.6%.
The rollout of the S26 series integrates artificial intelligence features from Perplexity AI alongside Google’s Gemini platform and an upgraded version of Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant.
The launch comes amid a tightening global chip supply. Samsung warned last month that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure is worsening shortages in the semiconductor market.
A global drive by technology companies such as Meta Platforms, Google and Microsoft to build AI infrastructure has absorbed a significant share of available memory chips, driving prices higher.
Market tracker TrendForce estimates that conventional DRAM contract prices could surge between 90% and 95% in the January–March period, compared with the final three months of 2025.
Samsung said the Galaxy S26 Ultra features what it described as “the industry’s first built-in mobile privacy display,”designed to limit side viewing angles and protect on-screen content from being seen by others nearby.
The company has also introduced some models of the S26 with its in-house Exynos processors, marking a shift from the previous S25 series that relied entirely on Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm. Analysts say the move could strengthen Samsung’s chip design business and help support margins in its mobile division.
Samsung said the Galaxy S26 series will begin rolling out globally on March 11.
Meanwhile, during a January post-earnings conference call, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said he expected memory chip prices to rise sharply, though he declined to say whether Apple would increase device prices in response.
Boluwatife Enome
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