There have been a few contrasting reports about the Galaxy S23 pricing in recent weeks. While some reports suggested the prices will remain the same as last year’s Galaxy S22, others said the new Samsung flagships will come a little expensive. It appears there will be a price hike this year, but not globally. The Galaxy S23 trio may cost the same as their respective predecessors in the US, but buyers in Europe and a few other markets may have to shell out more.
Tipster Roland Quandt has obtained the pricing structure of the Galaxy S23 series for some European markets through a Spanish retailer. According to them, the devices will start at €959 in the country. That’s for the vanilla Galaxy S23 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The 8GB+256GB variant will cost €1,019. Buyers getting the Galaxy S22+ will have to shell out €1,209 for the 8GB+256GB option and €1,329 for the 8GB+512GB. For the Ultra model, Samsung will charge €1,409 (8GB+256GB) and €1,589 (12GB+512GB).
If these prices are correct, we are looking at over a €100 hike for the base Galaxy S23 model. Last year’s Galaxy S22 started at €850. The Galaxy S23+ will cost €150 more, though you’re now getting 256GB of onboard storage. The Galaxy S22+ was available with 128GB of storage last year, priced at €1,050. The 256GB variant was priced at €1,100, which still means a €100 hike this year. Finally, the Ultra model will see a price increase of €150 this year. We still don’t know Samsung’s official pricing of the 1TB Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Local taxes are affecting the Galaxy S23 prices
It’s worth noting that this Galaxy S23 pricing structure isn’t for the whole of Europe. In markets with lower taxes, such as Germany and Benelux, the new Samsung flagships will reportedly start at €949 (8GB+128GB Galaxy S23). Quandt suggests the entire lineup will cost about €10 lesser in these markets, which isn’t much but tells you an important story. That local taxes and duties affect the pricing of products. That’s likely the same reason why the phones are said to cost more in Australia and South Korea as well.
Meanwhile, in the US, the Galaxy S23 series is said to debut with the same pricing as the Galaxy S22. If true, you will be able to get the phones for as low as $800. It remains to be seen whether Samsung offers the free storage upgrade promotion as last year. The new Galaxy flagships go official on February 1, so we will find out soon.