It looks like Samsung plans to charge more for the upcoming Galaxy S23 than for the S22, at least in some parts of Europe. Reliable leaker Roland Quandt has posted prospective prices for the phones at European retailers, and it appears there will be price jumps of €100 or more for some models.
As an example, Quandt says the Galaxy S23 starts at €959 in Spain with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while an Ultra with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage costs €1,589. Compare that to the S22, whose versions of those phones cost $859 and $1,459 respectively when not on sale, according to Samsung’s Spanish site. It is apparently in a similar situation Germanyand 9to5Google has reported that the phones could cost AUS$100 more in Australia. In the Czech Republicthe base S23 will cost a whopping 1,500 Czech Koruna (around €63) more than its predecessor, according to Quandt’s figures.
The increases from S22 to S23 are allowed even sharper in Denmarkranging from an increase of 1,300 Danish kroner (approximately €175 or $190 USD) for the basic model to an increase of 3,300 kroner for the top segment Ultra. That works out to about €440 or $480 more than the previous phone. (ouch)
It can be a difficult balancing act for Samsung. On the one hand, the company’s earnings have slowed significantly in recent months – it recently estimated its quarterly operating profit was down 69 percent year-over-year, so I’m sure it wouldn’t mind making more money with its flagship Phones. On the other hand, Samsung shipped 15.6 percent fewer phones in Q4 2022 than in Q4 2021, according to data released this week by analytics firm IDC. The phone market in general is struggling and it’s hard to imagine that higher prices won’t make things worse.
The price increases may not be global. In the U.S, according to 9to5Google, the S23 series is expected to start at the same prices as the current models; $799 for the regular S23, $999 for the S23 Plus, and $1,199 for the S23 Ultra. It’s possible Samsung wants to avoid losing customers to Apple, which has kept its iPhone 14 prices the same in the United States, even as it quietly raised them in quite a few other countries.
We only have leaks from a few countries so far; there is always a chance that the increases will not hit countries like the UK, France, Italy or South Korea as hard as Denmark. Or the increments could be even higher. It won’t be long before we find out though; Samsung is holding its Unpacked event on February 1 at 1 p.m. EST.
