SAMSUNG could significantly increase the price of its upcoming Galaxy S9 smartphone.
An insider source suggests that we could see a price rise of around £100 compared to last year's model.
Samsung is planning to debut the Galaxy S9 at a special launch event at Barcelona's MWC 2018 tech show on February 26.
The phone is expected to boast a host of new features, including a souped-up camera and a powerful new processor.
But these fancy features won't come cheap – a TechRadar report suggests we'll see the phone priced at £789 in the UK.
That's a hefty leap upwards from the Samsung Galaxy S8, which launched in the UK in 2017 for just £689.
An anonymous insider is quoted as saying: "You can expect the S9 to cost £100 more than the Galaxy S8 when it was released last year.
"The truth is that last year's massively inflated smartphone prices on handsets like the S8, Note 8 and iPhone X have shown that there are plenty of people out there willing to pay these higher prices."
We recently spoke to top analyst Dominic Sunnebo about the Galaxy S9 price, and he predicted an even bigger price hike.
The Sun gets a first look at the brand new Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphoneAccording to Sunnebo, last year's expensive Galaxy Note 8 smartphone – part of Samsung's premium "Note" series, built for power users – will force prices up for the regular Galaxy S range.
"The Galaxy Note 8 is Samsung's most premium offering to date, and is available in the UK at £869. The Galaxy S series releases typically come in just under the Note pricing level, so we would expect a launch price of around £829," the Kantar analyst told The Sun.
But he said that "Samsung's temptation to offer discounts far earlier than Apple" will mean that the price of the Galaxy S9 should quickly fall.
He says this will create a "large price gulf" between Samsung's new phone and Apple's £999-£1,149 iPhone X, which "will help generate demand" for the Galaxy S9.
Sadly, the worry is that this trend of increased pricing in the UK will continue: "We're expecting to see smartphone prices in 2018, particularly with the devaluation of the pound."
The good news is that GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives told The Sun that although a price rise is expect, Samsung probably won't break the £1,000 barrier with the Galaxy S9.
"We could see a price increase as likely, with Apple and now Samsung raising prices given the added functionality in the new device."
"Keeping prices below the £1,000 threshold is the key for Samsung given some of the backlash Apple has seen on the iPhone X."
Whatever the price, it's very likely that the Samsung Galaxy S9 will be one of this year's most popular phones.
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The handset is rumoured to carry Qualcomm's powerful new Snapdragon 845 chip, which is 25% faster than last year's version.
The phone is also mooted to boast a dual-lens camera, offering improvements to zoom, low-light photography, and depth of field.
The Sun will be reporting live from this year's MWC 2018 tech show, so we'll have the latest news on the Galaxy S9 launch as it happens.
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