The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has become the world’s most popular Android phone, a striking result during a period the industry has dubbed RAMageddon. Rising memory costs are pushing smartphone prices higher across the board, yet Samsung’s flagship refreshes continue to sell strongly despite offering only modest year-over-year updates.
A Quiet Year for Galaxy Devices
By most measures, 2026 has been an uneventful year for Samsung hardware. The Galaxy S26 series amounts to a chipset refresh paired with the Ultra’s new Privacy Display. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Flip 8 arrived as refinements rather than reinventions. The Galaxy S26 FE, launched this week, illustrates the impact of rising component costs with a barely updated package that carries a higher price than its predecessor.
Even so, the results speak for themselves. The Galaxy S26 Ultra, a EUR 1,117 device, is now outselling the affordable budget phones that historically anchored Samsung’s global success. It marks the first time the company’s premium flagship has topped its own lineup in this way.
Foldables and Flagships Buck the Trend
Foldables remain the one smartphone segment that is not contracting. Rather than shrinking, the category is growing steadily. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 has emerged as a hit, largely because it introduces a genuinely new, wider form factor and addresses long-standing user requests for thinner, lighter, media-focused designs that minimize the crease.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra achieves its success in a far less dramatic fashion. There is little that is groundbreaking about it, but it functions as a safe, reliable choice for buyers. For the millions of users on older Galaxy flagships, upgrading is straightforward, especially when trade-in deals are factored in.
Pricing Pressure Ahead
New forecasts from IDC released this week suggest the era of cheap smartphones is over, with price increases described as effectively permanent. That outlook adds weight to Samsung’s approach, which relies on incremental updates to a familiar, dependable platform.
The strategy has drawn criticism. Ongoing debate centers on whether slab smartphone design has peaked and whether Samsung’s existing Galaxy design has become a problem for users and for the future of smartphone accessories. The broader market appears to be shifting in a direction that Samsung’s current hardware is not built to accommodate, and the company’s response has so far been to make changes on its own terms. For now, the Galaxy S26 Ultra stands as the best-selling Android phone in the world.
Source
Image: 9to5google.com
