- Samsung has raised the prices of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8
- This is likely due in large part to rising memory costs.
- However, prices in South Korea are substantially lower.
As expected, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 cost more than their predecessors, with the Z Fold 8 Ultra’s starting price being $100/£100/AU$100 higher than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, and the Z Flip 8 $100/£100/AU$150 more than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7.
Given rising memory prices, that’s not entirely surprising, but what might surprise you is the better deal South Korea is getting, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starting at just ₩2.58 million there. As the Korea Times points out, that’s 20.4% lower than the US price and a whopping 44% lower than the European price.
The price difference between the standard Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is even greater. We don’t have a previous model of this to compare with (as the Z Fold 8 Ultra is the successor to the Z Fold 7), but this phone starts at $1,899.99 / £1,699 / AU$2,699, with that US price being 23.2% higher than Korea, while in Europe, buyers pay 48% more.
The table below details the total price increases for this generation, but in South Korea, people are paying less for the Z Fold 8 series than elsewhere even for the Z Fold 7 series.
|
Phone |
256GB |
512GB |
1TB |
|
Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra |
$2,099.99 / £1,899 / AU$2,999 |
$2,299.99 / £2,069 / AU$3,299 |
$2,699.99 / £2,409 / AU$3,899 |
|
Galaxy Z Fold 7 |
$1,999.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,899 |
$2,119 / £1,899 / AU$3,099 |
$2,419 / £2,149 / AU$3,549 |
|
Galaxy Z Flip 8 |
$1,199.99 / £1,149 / AU$1,949 |
$1,399.99 / £1,319 / AU$2,249 |
N/A |
|
Galaxy Z Flip 7 |
$1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799 |
$1,219 / £1,149 / AU$1,999 |
N/A |
Home advantage
So what’s going on here? Well, the Korea Times reports that during a press conference on the sidelines of the Galaxy Unpacked launch event, Samsung Electronics co-CEO Roh Tae-moon said, “The support, feedback and encouragement of Korean consumers have been the basis for strengthening the global competitiveness of the Galaxy brand. In recognition of the importance of the Korean market, we will continue to strive to offer Galaxy devices at the most competitive prices in Korea and will maintain that policy in the future.”
In other words, Samsung is rewarding its local market for supporting the company. But that explanation is unlikely to satisfy Samsung fans in other countries, since this shows that Samsung could clearly charge less and still make a profit; after all, you won’t lose money on sales in South Korea.
Now, there will be other factors in different prices, such as different taxes, but while from one perspective this might seem like a nice gesture on Samsung’s part, from another it seems like most of the world is facing unfair pricing.
In any case, another interesting detail from this press conference was Roh’s claim that the three models offered this year are “the complete shape” of Samsung’s foldable line, with two models no longer offering enough variety now that foldable phones are becoming more common.
I’m not sure what that says about the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, if it’s not part of the “full form,” but it does suggest that there will be more Galaxy Z Flip models in the future, which goes against a rumor that hints that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 would be the last. So, at least that’s good news.
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