Samsung’s Foldables Got Pricier. The RAM Shortage Is Part of the Bill

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Samsung’s latest foldables bring upgrades over last year’s models — including a new wider-screen device — but they also carry the industry’s favorite trend: higher prices.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 each cost $100 more than last year’s Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, while the brand-new, confusingly named Galaxy Z Fold 8, lands between them in price. Foldables have always sat at the top of the smartphone price ladder, and none of Samsung’s new ones are bucking that trend. Raising prices on some of the most expensive phones you can buy only pushes them further into niche territory.

Samsung said the higher prices reflect increased memory and component costs, which have affected phones, PCs and other products across the tech industry. The company also pointed to improvements over last year’s devices, including the new Titanium Flex displays, larger batteries and better 50-megapixel ultra-wide cameras on the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra. That pricing pressure isn’t unique to Samsung.

Nearly every 2026 phone has either cost more than its predecessor or arrived with so few upgrades that the price stayed flat, and Samsung’s foldables are also facing similarly pricier competition from Motorola’s Razr lineup. The bigger picture is the RAM shortage, fueled in large part by the AI boom, which has driven memory prices sharply higher and left manufacturers with a choice: raise prices or cut specs. The explosive demand for AI data centers and models has pushed chipmakers to prioritize high-bandwidth memory for AI workloads, leaving less capacity for standard DRAM and NAND used in phones and PCs.

Tariffs and other costs may be adding to the squeeze, but AI-driven memory demand is the main culprit behind the broader run-up in phone prices. Read more: Samsung Wants Us to Pay $2,000 for a New Galaxy Phone. It’s a ‘No’ for Me Outer screens of the folded-up Galaxy Z Fold 8 (left) and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (right).

Andrew Lanxon/CNET Prices of Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 8 The Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung’s newest foldable, is the company’s new entry-level book-style foldable. In addition to its wider, shorter format that unfolds to reveal an inner 4:3-screen, the device lacks a handful of features of its more premium sibling. The Z Fold 8 starts at $1,900 for 256GB of storage, goes up to $2,100 for 512GB, and reaches $2,500 for 1TB.

256GB512GB1TBSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 8$1,900$2,100$2,500 The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, in comparison, is a taller book-style foldable with slightly more premium features — namely, a 10-megapixel telephoto camera and a large 5,000-mAh battery. It starts at $2,100 for 256GB of storage, then goes up to $2,300 for 512GB and tops out at a staggering $2,700. 256GB512GB1TBSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra$2,100$2,300$2,700 The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the newest clamshell foldable from Samsung and has minor improvements over its predecessor: it’s lighter, has a slightly thinner design, and, like Samsung’s other foldables released alongside it, runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip.

It starts at $1,200 for 256GB and rises to $1,400 for 512GB. 256GB512GBSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 8$1,200$1,400 The Galaxy Z Flip 8 in pink, cream and graphite colors. A mint color is also available as an online exclusive.

Joseph Maldonado/CNET Colors for Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 8 The new wider-format Galaxy Z Fold 8 debuts with colors in lavender, graphite and cream, with a pistachio hue exclusive to Samsung’s online store. The slightly more premium Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s colors are violet shadow and graphite cream, with a green shadow hue as an online-only exclusive to Samsung’s store.The clamshell Galaxy Z Flip 8 colors are pink, graphite and cream, with mint as an exclusive to Samsung’s online store.

David Lumb Managing Editor, Mobile David Lumb is a managing editor for the mobile team, covering mobile and gaming spaces. Before CNET, he covered tech, gaming, and culture for TechRadar, Engadget, Popular Mechanics, NBC Asian America, Increment, Fast Company and others. As a true Californian, he lives for coffee, beaches and burritos.

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