Samsung has presented new smartphones in its popular Galaxy S series, at significantly higher prices than last year's.
Once again, there are three versions: the entry-level S23, the slightly larger S23+ and the most powerful model, the S23 Ultra. This time, the S23 starts at €949, whereas the S22 had cost €849 at launch last year.
The most expensive S23 Ultra had cost €1,649 last year, but now it is €1,819.
High inflation was not felt in smartphones until recently. The Statbel statistics bureau even reported that smartphones dropped 11.2% in price in January compared to a year earlier. However, the general inflation rate is now a hefty 8.05% and, after Apple, Samsung is raising the prices of its latest devices.
The price increases are mainly due to currency-exchange effects, the South Korean manufacturer says since, in dollar terms, prices have remained the same compared to last year.
According to Samsung, in recent years more and more consumers on the Belgian market have opted for the most expensive devices in the S-series, so supplies could not keep up with demand. Samsung therefore still sees growth mainly in the 'super-premium' segment.
More than 40% of S22 smartphone buyers, for example, chose the S22 Ultra, according to company figures.
Observers note that the S23 series phones are not drastically different from their predecessors, both in terms of features and appearance. However, Samsung is now also inserting a Snapdragon chipset from U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm in its devices in Europe.
In recent years, the European S smartphones had Samsung’s own Exynos chipset on board, but it did not perform as well.
