There’s no doubt the Galaxy S8 is a premium device, and could even be the best phone available right now, but the price is perhaps the one big drawback.
Picking up one of Samsung’s latest flagship devices will cost you £689 or $750, and that’s for the standard model; the S8+ will run you a lofty £779 or $850.
That’s pretty much what we expected prior to the phone’s release, but it’s still a lot to pay for a smartphone.
For those that have dropped the cash to pick up an S8, if it makes you feel any better, it looks like Samsung is paying a high price to produce the phones, too.
Related: Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S8+
According to IHS Markit analysts, Samsung is estimated to pay out $301.60 in parts for every one of its Galaxy S8 handsets.
With basic manufacturing costs assumed to be around $5.90, the total production cost per handset, before marketing costs, comes to $307.50, by the analysts’ predictions.
That amounts to around £240 per handset, which is about £33 ($43) more expensive than last year’s Samsung Galaxy S7.
It’s also more expensive than Apple’s iPhone 7, according to the analysts, which has an estimated build cost of $224.80 or £175, while the Google Pixel is estimated to cost $285.80 or £223 to produce.
That said, Apple is expected to include a slew of new features in its upcoming iPhone 8, which will arrive later this year and compete directly with the Galaxy S8.
The extra features will probably push the production costs up considerably, so it’s likely Samsung and Apple will be paying a similar figure to produce their respective flagship handsets come year-end.
Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of cost benchmarking services for IHS Markit, said: “The higher total [bill of materials] costs for the Galaxy S8 seem to be part of a trend that reflects something of an arms race in features among Apple, Samsung and other phone manufacturers, as they all try to add new and distinguishing hardware features.
“While there are new non-hardware features in the Galaxy S8, such as a virtual assistant called Bixby, from a teardown perspective the hardware in the Galaxy S8 and that of the forthcoming new iPhone is expected to be very similar.”
Let us know what you think of the analyst’s estimates in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
