Samsung Is About To Waste A Huge Chance With The Galaxy S26

The standard iPhone 17 turned out to be a massive success for Apple this year. It's been sold out since the first preorder weekend in the U.S. and other markets. As of last Friday, the base iPhone 17 model is harder to find than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is an unexpected development for a new iPhone series. Usually, the Pro models see more extended shipment delays. The iPhone 17 series also helped Apple dethrone Samsung, becoming the world's top-selling smartphone vendor of 2025. 

The Korean giant will soon unveil the Galaxy S26 series, its answer to the iPhone 17. However, a new report from Korean news site ETNews suggests that Samsung has decided to play it safe. The base Galaxy S26 model will not deliver any camera improvements over its predecessor, with Samsung reportedly choosing the same cameras to cut costs and hit the same $799 price point as the iPhone 17. Samsung reportedly wanted to improve the camera specs for the cheapest Galaxy S26 model, and it also reportedly wanted to raise the starting price. 

The company seemingly changed its mind after the iPhone 17 launch. ETNews' report states that the cheapest Galaxy S26 flavor will feature the same three lenses as its predecessor: A 50-megapixel wide, 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera array. Some internal changes may be needed, as Samsung had a different camera module design in mind for the Galaxy S26 initially. The ETNews report corroborates a mid-November story from a different Korean outlet, reporting that Samsung was so shocked by the $799 iPhone 17 that it decided to downgrade the base Galaxy S26 just so it can match Apple's price point.

The NewsPim report claimed Samsung changed the Galaxy S26 design at a point during the development cycle when the design should have been finalized. Instead of a slimmer Galaxy S26 featuring a 4,900 mAh battery, Samsung decided to recycle the Galaxy S25 design for one more year and use a 4,300 mAh battery, all for the sake of keeping costs down. This change, and the decision to reshuffle the Galaxy S26 lineup by removing the Edge design, contributed to the Galaxy S26 launch delay.

It's unfortunate that Samsung decided not to challenge the base iPhone 17 model with a stronger Galaxy S26 offering. If the two reports are accurate, the Galaxy S26 was supposed to feature a thinner design, improved battery life, and an upgraded camera experience. A price hike would have been inevitable given the current context: The AI industry is consuming memory and storage chips at unprecedented levels, driving up costs. 

Samsung could have found other ways to make the Galaxy S26 more appealing to buyers, via preorder discounts and other deals. Or, it could have delivered these upgrades at the expense of its own margins. After all, Apple gave the base iPhone 17 model several big upgrades over the iPhone 16 without changing the price: The 120Hz OLED panel, double the storage (256GB), dual 48-megapixel cameras on the back, 18-megapixel front camera, and the A19 chip.

We'll never know whether these reports are accurate, and we'll never get to see what a bolder Galaxy S26 strategy would have done for the Samsung vs. Apple phone rivalry. What we do know is that analysts expect Apple to remain the world's top smartphone vendor through 2029, meaning Samsung's cost-cutting strategy for the base Galaxy S26 may backfire, rather than help.