Report: New Galaxy S6 handsets to see price hike, S6 Edge will suffer from supply constraints

With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge right around the corner, the rumor mill is really beginning to pick up speed. We’ve heard everything from the S6 sporting Sony’s IMX240 camera sensor, multiple forms of wireless charging compatibility, and we even have a purported released date for the handset. Adding two more to the list, a few new rumors are surfacing from Ars Technica about the cost of the devices, along with possible supply constraints.

According to one of Ars’ sources from a European mobile carrier, the Galaxy S6 Edge will be constrained by supply due to manufacturing problems with the curved display. Now, this doesn’t seem like a big surprise since this is the company’s first mass market foray into the curved screen world. The Galaxy Note Edge was the company’s first device with a curved screen, but Samsung told us at launch that it was almost a “proof of concept” and that they weren’t planning on making as many units as the Note 4. With that said, the majority of the leaks and teasers we’ve seen so far are centered around the S6 Edge, so it seems as though Samsung is pushing the new Edge device just as much as the S6. In fact, the source also claims that around one third of S6 devices shipped by the company have a curved screen, so this may be a big problem for Sammy if they plan on selling a ton of these handsets.

If this next rumor is true, though, it will be hard for many people to afford the new S6 handsets. For the non-curved Galaxy S6, the source claims that the handset will be sold for €749 ($849), €849 ($963), and €949 ($1,076) for the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB versions. The curved version will run at a $100 premium for each price point, adding up to €849 ($963), €949 ($1,076), and €1,049 ($1,189) for the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB variants respectively. These are the prices that the carriers will have to pay for the devices before subsidies come into play, but the report claims that the unlocked devices will be priced similarly. For comparison, the unlocked Galaxy S5 launched for €650 ($650) last year.

It has been long-rumored that Samsung will utilize premium materials in the construction of the Galaxy S6, so we really can’t say we are too surprised if a price increase does occur. Of course, we really can’t say how much of a premium the GS6 will command over past-gen Galaxy S devices until word officially arrives from Samsung.

What are your thoughts on the rumored price increase? If the S6/S6 Edge is everything it’s cracked up to be, would you pay over $1,000 for a handset?