Samsung’s Galaxy 23 Might Be More Expensive in Some Countries

Samsung might be charging more for its latest upcoming smartphone.

The South Korea-based tech giant is reportedly planning on charging more for its Galaxy S23 smartphone in some parts of the world, with a few possible exceptions.

Samsung may soon release its Galaxy S23 smartphone on Feb. 1, during its upcoming "Unpacked" event, according to CNET.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Price Increase Details

Reliable leaker Roland Quandt revealed on his Twitter account some pricing details for the Galaxy S23 and their Euro conversions in some parts of Europe. Based on his tweets, Samsung seems to be planning to sell its Galaxy S23 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage in the Czech Republic for Kč 23.490 or €986.

Meanwhile, Samsung, based on Quandt's tweets, would be selling the same model in Spain for €959 and Kr. 7999 for Denmark, or €1075.41 as of press time.

According to The Verge, these prices are greater than the price Samsung asked for in its current offering, the Galaxy S22, which it released in Feb. 2022. Case in point, the base Galaxy S23 is roughly €63 more expensive than the Galaxy S22, while the base Galaxy S23 is Kr. 1,300 more expensive than the Galaxy S22's base model at release.

Samsung may have increased its prices to offset the price cuts it made in its earlier phones, including the Galaxy S22.

According to 9to5Google, Samsung previously dropped the prices of its Galaxy S21 phones after the dismal sales of its Galaxy S20 smartphone. The company retained these lowered prices with the release of its Galaxy S22 smartphone despite some camera upgrades on the S22, S22+, and the Note-ification of the S22 Ultra.

Should Samsung also include the US in its list of countries that will get price increases for the galaxy S23, people living in the US may soon see as much as a $100 price hike for the new phone.

Fortunately, the base Galaxy S23 model starts at $799 - the same price as its Galaxy S22 counterpart. Meanwhile, a Galaxy S23 Plus will cost $999, while a Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a price tag of $1,199.

Why Is Samsung Increasing Prices?

There is a good reason for the price increase, though. The company found its profits significantly slowed down in recent months, with its quarterly operating profit falling by 69% year-over-year. Additionally, Samsung shipped 15.6 percent fewer phones in Q4 2022 than it did in Q4 2021.

This decrease in shipping could be a probable effect of the lower demand caused by the ongoing recession and economic downturn that forced many people to be efficient with their money and spend more on necessities rather than gadgets, per CNBC.

Additionally, many people have a lower appetite to spend more on gadgets due to them having relatively new gadgets that they bought during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.