Samsung realizes it has too many phones, Galaxy A55 isn’t coming to the US

Ben Schoon | Mar 12 2024 - 6:40 pm PT

For the first time in a while, Samsung won’t be bringing one of its most popular Galaxy A-series smartphones to the US, with the Galaxy A55 confirmed to not launch in the region.

Just earlier this week, Samsung announced the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35 as its latest mid-range Android phones. Both look fairly solid, but missing from the reveal were any mentions of a US release. Now, Samsung has confirmed the Galaxy A55 will not be coming to the United States at all.

Why?

Samsung doesn’t directly say the exact reason, but in a statement to Android Police, the reason is pretty obvious. The company points to Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 FE as alternative options for customers interested in a better-specced Android device. Those devices run $799 and $599 (from carriers), where last year’s Galaxy A54 was priced at $449 – not a huge gap.

Samsung says:

We can confirm that Galaxy A35 5G will be coming to the US market and look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks. While we will not be carrying Galaxy A55 5G at this time, consumers can still take advantage of our Galaxy innovation at great value with Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 FE.

Admittedly, there’s definitely a gap in Samsung’s lineup now, but it remains to be seen how much the Galaxy A35 – which is coming to the US – will cost. The Galaxy A25 runs $299, so it seems very likely Galaxy A35 will fall somewhere between $349 and $449, pretty closely filing in that gap.

But, at that $500~ price, the gap is pretty well served by other brands. We already felt that last year’s Pixel 7a was a better value, and now the OnePlus 12R puts up a very compelling package for that price.