Samsung can't cut itself a deal — and Galaxy prices are going up by up to €200
Samsung is raising prices on its flagship Galaxy phones in Europe by €100 to €200 starting in the first week of June, with Greece confirmed as the first market to see new price tags. The Galaxy S series (including FE models), Galaxy Z Fold 7, and Galaxy Z Flip 7 are all affected. The cause isn't a new feature set or a bigger screen — it's a chip shortage, and it's structural.
The supply-chain trap
Here's the paradox: Samsung is one of the world's largest memory chip makers, yet its mobile division has no pricing advantage because of it. Samsung Mobile buys DRAM and NAND storage from Samsung Electronics at full market rates, per Network World, and Samsung Electronics has been declining long-term wholesale contracts in favour of higher-margin spot deals. Samsung executive Wonjin Lee confirmed the company cannot insulate its own product lines from the cost pressure.
That pressure is severe. AI data centres are consuming high-bandwidth memory (HBM) at an unprecedented pace, which has diverted production capacity away from the DRAM and NAND chips that go into smartphones. Contract memory prices jumped 58–75% quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2026, reports Phandroid, citing industry analysis. No meaningful relief is expected before 2027.
What this means if you're buying now
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 currently sits at around £1,799 (256 GB) in the UK. A €100–200 increase translates to roughly £85–170 depending on the SKU and retailer. UK stockists including Currys, John Lewis, and Amazon UK are awaiting official guidance from Samsung before revising listings.
Greece is the first European country to receive confirmed new pricing from the first week of June, according to Greek outlet Techmaniacs, whose report was independently corroborated by Phandroid. Samsung had already raised Galaxy prices in its home South Korean market back in late March, so wider European rollout was widely anticipated.
The broader picture
Samsung isn't alone. Apple negotiated a deal to absorb a 100% markup on LPDDR5X chips in February 2026, insulating its own supply — Samsung Mobile has no equivalent leverage despite sharing a parent company with its chip supplier. Other Android makers face the same headwinds. If the shortage persists, mid-range Galaxy models could follow with their own price adjustments later in the year.
For anyone planning to buy a Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Z Flip 7, the window before the June price revision is narrowing fast.
