Maybe you’re tired of hearing about memory price hikes and the potential of increased smartphone prices. Well, it’s starting to happen with major OEMs. Samsung just increased the price of its 1TB Galaxy Z Fold 7 in the US.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is by no means a “cheap” phone. At a $2,000 entry point, the foldable Android phone is one of the most expensive models one can get. Now, factor in the option to increase its storage capacity to up to 1TB, and you’re looking at a $2,419 phone.
At least, you were.
It appears Sasmung quietly hiked the cost of the 1TB Galaxy Z Fold 7 variant to $2,499. With the price increase, some Galaxy Z Fold 7 variants now cost $80 more with no changes made to the phone itself that would, for any reason, warrant a price hike. It may not sound like a lot, but it signals what might be a universal price increase on premium devices that have already been released.
It’s unclear when Samsung made this change, but the online store had the phones listed at their original prices in March.
Samsung’s 512GB model looks to have shifted up $80 as well, but it seems it’s on sale right now for $2,079 from the new price of $2,199. It launched at $2,119.
This comes as Motorola recently did something similar. Its Moto G lineup was hit with a price hike across the board hours after the Moto G Stylus was announced. Some devices rose by $100, and they were already considered budget options. Now, those phones are even more expensive in a device range that needs to offer value at a low cost.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7, on the other hand, sits at the highest end of premium. An $80 price increase is only a 3% jump, though someone saving for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 model with the most storage may not be able to stretch another few dollars.
This is to be expected as components become more expensive due to a shortage of DDR5 memory and other RAM components. Until production speeds back up or HBM demand for AI datacenters falls, there may be many more price increases on devices already on the market.
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