The Samsung Galaxy S26 faced huge expectations even before its release

Despite not packing any new breakthrough features, the Galaxy S25 range sold well in the first few months after its launch. This helps it achieve something that no Samsung phone has achieved in the last 5 years. Thanks to this momentum, annual sales of the Galaxy S25 are reported to have surpassed the S24 series by 5%.

Interestingly, a Counterpoint Research report claims that the Galaxy S25 family got off to a slower start than its predecessor when it debuted in February 2025. However, the lineup outsold the S24, thanks to a mid-cycle sales increase from July to October 2025. This helped the phone outsell the S24 for the February to December period by 5%.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra did even better, reportedly selling 7% more than the S24 Ultra.

Thanks to strong sales, the Galaxy S25 Ultra entered the top 10 best-selling phones globally in 2025.

Will the Galaxy S26 outsell the S25?

Given the NAND and DRAM crisis and inflationary pressures, it will be interesting to see if the Galaxy S26 Ultra and its smaller siblings can outsell their predecessors or even replicate their success.

Reports suggest that Samsung is trying its best not to increase the price of the Galaxy S26, at least in the US. However, with DRAM prices rising almost every quarter, the company may have to reconsider its options. Hence, the company may not even offer attractive pre-launch offers for the S26 family, which could impact initial demand.

Therefore, Samsung may push Ultra more this year, as its higher selling price gives it more room to account for rising raw material costs.

Based on leaks, Samsung doesn’t seem ready to address the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s many shortcomings with its successor. The Galaxy S26 Ultra will reportedly retain the same 5,000mAh cell as the previous Ultra and still lack internal magnets for native Qi2 support. Even the rear camera setup will be largely unchanged, with only the 200MP main camera and 5x telephoto expected to get wider apertures to help improve low-light performance.

While the much-leaked and teased Privacy display would be a nice addition and help the S26 Ultra stand out from other phones on the market, it alone might not be enough to drive strong sales.