It's bad news for anyone anticipating the Galaxy S27 at a lower price point. A deal between Samsung and China's BOE for OLED panel supply would have likely brought down production costs.
The display manufacturer usually undercuts Samsung Display on pricing to win market share. The deal is now off entirely, as it has halted development of the Galaxy S27 OLED after facing internal resistance from Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display.
Samsung Display may manufacture S27 screens
A South Korean tech outlet has spilled the details on a deal that fell apart behind the scenes at Samsung. Electronic Times reports that BOE has halted Galaxy S27 OLED development.
The effort had been underway for a while, and BOE only launched the development project after receiving a request for information from Samsung Electronics. It was an opportunity to break into Samsung's flagship lineup for the first time.
But opinion within Samsung Electronics was reportedly divided from early on, and negative sentiment toward the idea grew over time. Even so, BOE reportedly held on to the project through company President Roh Tae-moon's visit to China on the 25th. It had hoped the visit would produce a positive signal. It did not, and the project was finally shut down afterward.
The exact reasons the deal collapsed have not been confirmed. But it's worth knowing that Samsung Display has been the sole OLED supplier for the Galaxy S series up to this point, and a direct competitor to BOE. They also held 45% of the small and medium-sized OLED market by revenue last year, with LG Display following at 19% and BOE trailing at 17%.
As pointed out by Android Authority, it isn't far-fetched, then, that Samsung Display would push back against its own parent company turning to a Chinese rival for its top-tier flagship.
There are no hard feelings on BOE’s part because the company remains China's largest display manufacturer and the global leader in LCD production. They have even partnered with Huawei, China's largest smartphone maker, to aggressively pursue OLED technology leadership.
Expect S27 price increases up to $100
The Galaxy S27 series may launch at a noticeably higher price than the Galaxy S26 did, with memory chip prices climbing across the industry pushing up production costs. A $50 to $100 bump on the base Galaxy S27 wouldn't be surprising, especially if memory prices remain spiked into early 2027.
The Ultra tier is also expected to keep climbing. Samsung raised prices for the S26 and S26 Plus by $100 last cycle, while the S26 Ultra's 512GB version jumped by $80 and its 1TB option climbed a steep $140.
Samsung may add a fourth model, the Galaxy S27 Pro, and it'll sit between the S27 Plus and S27 Ultra. It'll likely be priced between $1,099 and $1,199, running the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro in a smaller body. It's also possible the Galaxy S27 launches between $849 and $899, with the S27 Plus around $1,049 to $1,099. The S26 Ultra could start at $1,349.
