"Will It Top 1 Million Won?" What Is the New Galaxy S Product Set to Be Unveiled This Week? [IT Item of the Day]

[Financial News] Samsung Electronics will unveil a new Samsung Galaxy S26 series product this week. It is the Samsung Galaxy S26 Fan Edition (FE), a semi-flagship model that offers flagship-level performance at a lower price. This will be the first new Samsung Galaxy S series product in about five months since the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26 in March. The move appears aimed at using the launch effect to break through the global smartphone downturn.
According to the industry on the 25th, Samsung Electronics will hold the "Samsung Galaxy Event" at 9 p.m. on the 27th and unveil a new model in the Samsung Galaxy S26 series. The company did not disclose the exact product name, but it is expected to be the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, a semi-premium model. The device is designed to include all the core features of the Samsung Galaxy S series while keeping the price below 1 million won, lowering the barrier for consumers to buy a flagship-class phone.
The biggest question is whether the price will stay below 1 million won. Last year's Samsung Galaxy S25 FE was launched with a single 256GB model priced at 946,000 won. However, the cost burden has risen sharply over the past year as component prices have surged, driven by memory semiconductors such as DRAM and NAND flash memory. Samsung Electronics is expected to focus heavily on cutting costs by equipping the phone with its own Exynos 2500 instead of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the mobile application processor, or AP, often called the brain of a smartphone.
The launch date has also been moved up by about three weeks compared with the previous model. The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE was released in South Korea on Sept. 19 last year. The company appears to be aiming to defend its domestic market ahead of the iPhone 18 series launch in September. The strategy also seems intended to extend the strong sales momentum sparked by new foldable phone models such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8. Based on leaked specifications for the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, the device will feature a 6.7-inch display with a refresh rate of up to 120 hertz. The rear camera setup will include a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera. It will also come with a 4,900mAh battery and 45W wired charging.
Samsung Electronics aims to maintain its No. 1 position in global market share with the help of new products such as the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE.
Counterpoint Research said Samsung Electronics' smartphone shipments this year are expected to rise 0.8% from a year earlier, while Apple's are projected to fall 2.1%. The firm added that although Apple is expected to launch its first foldable phone in the third or fourth quarter of this year, sales are likely to remain in the tens of millions at most, meaning it will not have a major impact on overall shipment trends.

[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter