Leak says there might not be a Samsung Galaxy S26
Samsung's Galaxy S25 series is still months away, but despite that, there have been reports of its successor, the Galaxy S26 series which is not expected to arrive until 2026. A new rumor has surfaced about the 2026 flagship series, and they hint at a major change in Samsung's Galaxy S series line of phones.
According to a post made on X by Ice Universe (@UniverseIce), Samsung may cancel the vanilla Galaxy S26 model of the Galaxy S26 series. The reason for this change is tied to Samsung not being able to compete with small sized flagships from rivals such as Oppo as well as other Chinese brands.
To drive home the point, he cited the upcoming Oppo Find X8 as an example of a compact but powerful flagship that will give Samsung's Galaxy 25 a run for its money. Xiaomi is another brand with compact and powerful flagships, with its Xiaomi 14 (curr. €699 on Amazon.de), outperforming the Galaxy S24 (available on Amazon for $720) in more than a few areas. The Xiaomi 15 may replicate that success.
Ice Universe added in his post that Samsung will struggle against rival compact Chinese smartphones which may lead to the decision to cancel the vanilla Galaxy 26.
While the info should be taken with a pinch of salt as there's no evidence to back it up, there's one advantage Samsung has over rivals which is availability.
Although, rival devices usually outdo Samsung's own phones at least on paper, a lot of them are usually available in a few select markets unlike Samsung's devices which have wider reach. So unless its rivals intend to expand availability to serve more regions, Samsung would be leaving money on the table by cancelling the compact model.