Despite inflation and increasing component prices, Apple didn’t hike the base iPhone 17 price this year. Besides all the yearly improvements and twice the base storage, the phone still costs $799 in the US. And that has put Samsung’s plan with the Galaxy S26 in a fix, forcing it to go back to the drawing board.
A report from Korea’s Newspim claims that Samsung initially redesigned the Galaxy S26 to make it thinner, with a waistline of 6.9mm — 0.3mm thinner than the S25. Further, it planned to significantly boost the battery capacity to 4,900mAh, up from 4,000mAh on the current model.
However, with Apple not increasing the iPhone 17’s price this year, Samsung is also being forced to consider keeping the S26’s base price intact.
The entry-level iPhone 17 has been a major hit for Apple this year, seeing strong demand from customers around the world. Almost two months after launch, lead times for the phone still stretch almost a month.
Due to this, Samsung has supposedly gone back to the drawing board to focus on price competitiveness. And it is doing this when the “design is almost complete,” as per an anonymous Samsung Electronics official. The company reportedly can’t raise the S26’s price above the iPhone 17 and S25’s existing $799 MSRP.
Holding the price steady will come at a cost
Now, to reduce its manufacturing cost, Samsung will seemingly keep the Galaxy S26’s thickness intact. As part of this, it will only boost its battery capacity to 4,300mAh. All other major upgrades, including the switch to a 50MP ultrawide camera, have also been shelved.
Still, keeping the Galaxy S26’s price at $799 will be a challenge for Samsung due to rising component costs. NAND and storage prices have climbed sharply, and Qualcomm’s new flagship chip is reportedly even more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
This explains why recent reports suggest Samsung will use its in-house Exynos 2600 inside the Galaxy S26 and its Plus siblings in Europe, Asia, and select other markets.
The report further claims that with the base Galaxy S26, Samsung is focusing on competitive pricing. The S26 Plus is said to strike a balance between price and features, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra will continue to stand out with its premium capabilities. As a result, the S26 Plus will reportedly keep the same thickness and battery capacity as the S25 Plus, whereas the S26 Ultra will be 0.3mm thinner.
These last-minute design changes are also why Samsung will reportedly launch the Galaxy S26 series later than usual next year, in late February.
