Samsung launches its priciest smartphone lineup ever amid chip cost crunch

London/New Delhi: South Korean smartphone and appliances maker Samsung launched its eighth generation of foldable phones—its most expensive lineup so far—on Wednesday, amid a global supply-chain crunch for electronics raw materials such as memory chips.

The latest foldable lineup includes Galaxy Z Flip 8, Fold 8 and 8 Ultra. Of this, the passport-shaped Z Fold 8 is an all-new device and the third one in Samsung’s foldable phone lineup. The Z Fold 8 Ultra replaces last year's Z Fold 7 and is slimmer and lighter now, while the Flip 8 replaces the Flip 7.

Prices of Samsung’s foldables rose on the back of memory chip price hikes globally. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is the company’s most expensive smartphone to date, with a starting price of ₹2 lakh going all the way up to ₹2.6 lakh for the top variant. The Z Fold 8, at ₹1.8 lakh, costs ₹5,000 more than the Z Fold 7. The Z Flip 8, at ₹1.25 lakh, is ₹15,000 more expensive than its predecessor.

Samsung currently is absorbing much of the supply chain price hikes to pass as little as possible to consumers compared to its competitors, according to analysts.

Wednesday’s launch is significant as Samsung’s Z Fold series accounted for 9 out of every 10 foldable phones sold in India last year—an industry that generated nearly $900 million in full-year sales, as per supply chain analysts.

Sunghoon Moon, Samsung’s executive vice-president and a senior executive of its research and development (R&D) office, told reporters during a roundtable ahead of the launch, “In my 20 years or so working in this industry, this recent spike in price, not just memory but raw materials overall, is an unprecedented situation that I never experienced before."

“As an engineer, my role against this backdrop is to ensure that this burden is not passed on to the consumers, while we continue to meet our high quality standards in our products. As you can all hear, that is seemingly impossible. However, to make it possible all our colleagues at Samsung are doing our best,” Moon added.

The launch comes less than two months before Apple, Samsung’s biggest global smartphone rival, is expected to launch the first foldable iPhone this September. While it remains to be seen if Apple’s entry into this segment opens the market up, Samsung is expected to comfortably remain in the lead until at least the end of 2026.

While Samsung was the first mainstream global brand to launch a foldable phone, its very first attempt in 2019 was plagued with durability concerns. Seven years and eight iterations since the original Galaxy Fold, foldable smartphones are yet to become as affordable or durable as regular smartphones, and have thus failed to break into the mainstream.

Tarun Pathak, director of research at market research firm Counterpoint, said foldable smartphones continue to play a very minor role in India’s smartphone ecosystem. “Last year, India sold only 600,000 foldable phones, about 0.4% of the industry. This year, while foldables may grow by 15% because of a small base, the overall market may shrink by 13%. Even then, foldables will account for just over 0.5% of India’s annual smartphone sales. They still remain within the confines of those who value the wow factor of a foldable, or business owners who have become used to their multitasking ability,” Pathak added.

Memory chip prices have more than tripled over the past year, driven by relentless demand from AI data centers, according to Counterpoint. WhileMintpreviously reported smartphone price hikes of up to 40% due to supply chain strain, ongoing AI consumption means memory costs won't drop anytime soon. As a result, smartphone prices in India are up 15% overall compared to last year.

Globally, at $1,800 ( ₹1.75 lakh), foldables cost nearly five times as much as the average selling price of a normal smartphone in India. “Until this cost rationalizes, it is unlikely that foldable phones will see any breakthrough,” Counterpoint’s Pathak said.

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