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Galaxy S26 series pricing might be spared from RAM inflation
- A new leak suggests the Galaxy S26 series’s launch pricing may be the same as last year’s S25 series, at least in some markets.
- This is contrary to earlier reporting that suggested increased RAM prices would lead to higher S26 prices for consumers.
- The leak in question deals with pricing in Euros, and we can’t be totally sure what it means for US pricing.
RAM prices have been soaring in recent months, a trend that’s caused product delays and fueled concern that new consumer electronics of all kinds will see reduced memory, higher sticker prices, or both. It was reported in November that the upcoming Galaxy S26 series was likely to see a RAM-induced price hike versus last year’s S25 phones, but a new leak suggests that might not be the case.
Leaker Roland Quandt posted today on Bluesky that pricing for S26 base models will be “pretty much the same” as the S25 at launch, at least in European markets. His post goes on to say that the S26 Ultra may actually be less expensive, coming in about “100 Euro cheaper for 256 and 512GB” models, though he’s expecting the one-terabyte version’s pricing to remain the same.
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That’s not to say that Samsung isn’t feeling the squeeze when it comes to memory pricing; Quandt’s post says that the company is absorbing increased materials costs to launch the S26 series at similar price points to the S25. He goes on to say we shouldn’t expect free pre-order upgrades for the S26 series, however (you could nab the 512GB Galaxy S25 Ultra for the same $1,299 as the 256-gig model during its launch window).
S26: base models are pretty much the same price as last year, except for Ultra, which is ~100 Euro cheaper for 256 and 512GBS26U 1TB is the same as last yearprices are changing in different ways. overall Samsung is “eating” the higher mem cost in most cases!no free preorder upgrades expected— Roland Quandt (@rquandt.bsky.social) January 28, 2026 at 8:51 AM
In a subsequent post, Quandt qualified this info by saying it’s “based on retail data from a country isn’t paying in Euro” — so it’s possible parts of the full picture have been lost in translation, so to speak. Consistent year-over-year pricing in Euro markets also wouldn’t necessarily guarantee that pricing will also remain the same in the US. Still, it’s nice to hear any indication that Samsung’s next generation of flagships might be spared from AI-driven RAM inflation, even if it would mean thinner margins for the company.
We’ll know for sure soon enough: we expect the Galaxy S26 series will be unveiled in full at an Unpacked event in the next few weeks.
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