Samsung is about to copy a major play from Apple’s “How to sell iPhones for more money” handbook, by releasing two not-quite-identical versions of the Galaxy S9. The Galaxy S9+ is the phone that’ll get you the best S9 experience. It’ll come with more RAM, more storage, and a dual-lens camera on the back.
Samsung is pulling this Apple move to make more money off of its Galaxy S releases. After all, the strategy works wonderfully for the iPhone. The bad news is that the entry-level Galaxy S9 will also be more expensive than last year’s Galaxy S8, a new report reveals.
Even if it looks and feels a lot like the Galaxy S8, the cheapest Galaxy S9 will not sell for the same price. ETNews has it on good authority that the Galaxy S9 will retail for between 950,000 to 999,000 won in Korea — that’s $895 to $935. The starting price for the Galaxy S8 was 935,000 won, or around $875. It’s not a major price increase, but it’s a price increase nonetheless.
US-based Galaxy S9 buyers can expect to pay well over $750 for the phone, which was the entry price for last year’s flagship.
ETNews doesn’t offer pricing details for the Galaxy S9+, however. But the report does say that Samsung wants to start preorders in the region as soon as May 2nd. That would be less than a week after the phone is officially unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2018 trade show. The preorder period will last until March 8th, a source told the news site, and Korea’s top three carriers are all going to have it in stock on release day.
A recent report said the handset will start shipping on March 16th, although ETNews doesn’t say anything about international sales. This would mark the earliest preorder date for the Galaxy S series. Apparently Samsung wants to make the most of it, banking on the fact that its main Android-based competitors, including Huawei and LG, aren’t going to unveil new flagship hardware at MWC 2018 in Barcelona, Spain.
Samsung said that the actual launch date for the phone will be unveiled after the Unpacked event:
The Galaxy S9 series is more focused on user convenience than the new design. The detailed sales schedule and price will be released after the unpacking event.
The Unpacked press conference is scheduled for February 25th, and BGR will be there covering it live.
