Reported Galaxy S26 Ultra price hike may be hitting the US already

With the iPhone 18 Pro Max matching its starting price, one would’ve thought that the Galaxy S26 Ultra wouldn't see any price increases. However, a new report out of South Korea suggests that might not be the case, and an Amazon listing may have confirmed the bad news.

Galaxy S26 series may get a $100 price increase

Korean outlet Hans Economy claimed that Samsung is considering price hikes across the Galaxy S26 series, including for the Galaxy S26 Plus and the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The increase was reported (translated source) to only affect South Korea, with the new prices expected to hit on October 1, 2026.

Notifications sent out to carriers in Korea have reportedly included a uniform approach to the increases, with all models getting a KRW 149,600 bump, which directly converts to about $110. If this pans out, the phones would have the following prices for the base 256GB models:

• Galaxy S26: from KRW 1,245,000 (about $910) to KRW 1,403,600 (about $1,026)
• Galaxy S26 Plus: from KRW 1,452,000 (about $1,062) to KRW 1,601,600 (about $1,171)
• Galaxy S26 Ultra: from KRW 1,797,400 (about $1,314) to KRW 1,947,000 (about $1,424)

Galaxy S26 Ultra may have already gotten more expensive in the US

While the report doesn’t mention anything about the US price of the Galaxy S26, a $100 price increase may be imminent for at least one model. An Amazon listing of the Galaxy S26 Ultra has the device at a discounted price, but the original one is shown as $1,399 for the white and Cobalt Violet versions of the phone.

Samsung hasn’t officially announced a price increase for any of its current flagship models in the US. The S26 Ultra is also still listed at its original $1,299 price on the company’s own website. 

This could mean the Amazon listing is a mistake, but it’s curious of what type. One option is that Amazon has put a higher original price in error. The other is that the listing is a premature price hike announcement. Either way, the device is sold at a discount, making its current price lower than both the increased and the original prices.

Certainly not the best time for a price hike, at least in the US

Samsung’s price correction in Korea does make sense. Even with the hike, the S26 Ultra remains considerably cheaper than the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which sells for KRW 2,190,000. The same goes for the vanilla S26, which is much cheaper than the vanilla iPhone 17 in the country.

However, that’s certainly not the case in the US. Apple’s new top-tier flagship launched with a $100 price increase, but that still only put its price at the same level as the S26 Ultra. Google also introduced a price hike for the Pixel 11 phones, which made the Pixel 11 Pro XL land on the same $1,299 price tag as both Apple and Samsung.

On the other hand, Apple also introduced a price hike for all the existing models it’s still selling in the US. The iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Air all got a $100 more expensive right after the company announced the iPhone 18 Pro phones and the foldable iPhone Duo. Other Apple products, including iPads, Macs, and the Apple Vision Pro, got their prices increased earlier this year.

This could be even worse news for the Galaxy S27

As much as I don’t like price hikes on existing products, they make me even more worried about what is going to happen with the prices of future products. If Samsung already feels pressured to erase the price parity with Apple and its current phones that it just got, I don’t even want to imagine the possibilities for the Galaxy S27 phones, and the S27 Ultra in particular. We can only hope there won't be more bad news anytime soon.

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