- Samsung will reportedly raise the price of some Galaxy S26 models
- This is likely due to increasing memory costs
- In contrast, Apple will apparently absorb the cost to keep iPhone 18 prices at the same level as the iPhone 17
Depending on whether you’re an Apple fan or in Samsung’s camp, the pricing news this year could be either good or bad, as while it’s unsurprisingly reported that Samsung is raising prices for the Galaxy S26 series, Apple may not be for the iPhone 18 series.
According to retailer data from Sweden seen by WinFuture, Samsung could raise the starting price of the base model Galaxy S26 by almost €200 (roughly $240 / £175 / AU$340). Although at least you’d apparently get twice the storage for your money, with Samsung reportedly ditching the 128GB model and starting the Galaxy S26 at 256GB.
For the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, the starting price is shown to be the same as last year, which would mean $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 if true for other regions as well. But oddly enough, if you go for a 512GB configuration, you’ll apparently be paying €230 (around $275 / £200 / AU$390) more than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in that configuration.
There is better news for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra though, as the starting price for this will apparently be almost €100 (around $120 / £85 / AU$170) less than the $1,299 / £1,249 / AU$2,149 starting price of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
A different approach
These price changes – and especially the price increases – are almost certainly due to the rising cost of RAM and flash memory. But while these memory prices will affect the entire industry, it appears that Apple can absorb the costs to increase its market share.
A few quick thoughts on Apple/iPhone memory price increases: 1. The 1Q26 LPDDR price increases mentioned in the news are pretty close to what I’ve heard. However, NAND flash increases are slightly lower.2. iPhone memory prices are now negotiated quarterly instead of every six months, so…27 January 2026
This is according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that Apple’s current plan is to at least keep the starting prices of these phones flat – so it sounds like higher stock versions could see a price increase.
Still, that would mean the iPhone 18 starting at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, the iPhone 18 Pro at $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,999, and the iPhone 18 Pro Max at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149. That would be good news, especially since these are far from cheap phones in the first place.
Of course, we’d take all of this with a grain of salt for now, but at least as far as the Samsung Galaxy S26 series goes, we should find out how much these phones cost very soon, with leaks pointing to a February 25 launch.
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