Upcoming flagship phones could be costlier than ever

Most of the conversation around smartphones remains centered around flagships, as that is usually where we see the most innovation. What we see on flagships first trickles down to mid-rangers and budget phones in the coming months and years. There’s also an element of desire driving us to high-end flagships, as many of us want to have the best phone in our pockets. Sadly, it should come as no surprise that several highly anticipated flagships are expected to get a price bump when they launch in the near future.

Tipster Yogesh Brar predicts we are in for some price inflation across major flagships. Devices in the Google Pixel 8 series, the iPhone 15 series, the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, and even the Xiaomi 14 series are expected to see a $50-$200 price jump, with variations across variants.

This prediction should not come as a surprise to anyone following the general market trends. Chips like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 are already rumored to be priced a “bit high” compared to the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips, which would explain the price increase on the Snapdragon variants of the Galaxy S24 series, and the Xiaomi 14 series.

For the iPhone 15 series, Apple’s A17 Bionic will be an expected price increase driver. Other notable upgrades like the titanium frame and the periscope lens on the Pro Max model will push Apple to recoup its profit margins with a price hike. Apple has largely managed to keep the starting price of the iPhones sane in the US over the past few years, but it could possibly yield this year to general inflation chipping away at its cushy margins.

We expect notable upgrades for the Pixel 8 series, like the new Tensor G3 chip, a higher refresh rate on the vanilla model, a better variable refresh rate on the Pro, and at least one new camera sensor. Combined with the general inflationary trends, a price increase makes sense here too.

In some markets, Samsung has been reported to swap to the Exynos 2400 processor to offset the cost of other upgrades. The Snapdragon version is still expected for the US, so there does not appear to be a cost absorption cushion in this case.

If you want to buy a new flagship in the coming months, we recommend you start budgeting for a price increase. Looking at the trends, it does not seem like the prices will decrease outside of the offers seen during the sale season. We predict the general trend to also affect mid-range and budget devices, with good phones becoming more expensive overall.