Samsung’s Galaxy S6 hard to build and extremely expensive, report says

Earlier this week, an image leaked from T-Mobile of the upcoming Galaxy S6 with a curved screen. As shown above, the leaked “Six Appeal” shows a modestly curved screen and a device that looks broadly similar to previous Samsung Galaxy products. A new leak suggests that the Galaxy S6’s edged screen is difficult to manufacture — and that the device will be far more expensive than previous models.

According to Ars Technica, an unnamed contact at a European mobile partner has told them that the Galaxy S6 will launch in both curved and normal variants, with the curved variant carrying a premium. European prices can’t be easily compared to US ones (Ars has the full details on specific pricing), but the entry level prices will reportedly be €749 and €849 for the non-curved and curved products. Compare that to the S5’s launch price of $650, and the gain is significant.

Samsung is reportedly putting its technical push behind the curved display version of the phone despite having trouble stocking it, and early rumors have suggested that the S6 doesn’t fix most of the design features that Android users tend to dislike about Samsung devices. The new phone is expected to pack Samsung’s 14nm SoC Exynos 7420 as opposed to the 20nm version of that chip that’s already shipping in devices like the Galaxy Note 4.

If these pricing rumors carry over to the US, they could kick a hole in the device’s uptake. It’s a puzzling move for Samsung — the Galaxy S5 might be the company’s premium handset, but it looks and feels like a cheap plastic device. Consumers have been calling for the company to create upmarket versions of its products for years, but the Korean manufacturer has resisted doing so. After the Samsung Galaxy S5 sold 40% fewer units than anticipated, many predicted that company would respond by retooling the S6 to meet more of its customers’ demands. Apparently that hasn’t happened — unless, of course, consumers were secretly demanding higher prices.

With Apple now tying it in terms of total phones shipped and low-cost manufacturers surging in China and India, this is the wrong time to lead with the launch of a luxury platform built around an edged screen gimmick. While we do expect good things from Samsung’s 14nm hardware, the company’s bog-standard Cortex-A57 design will have to offer extraordinary performance to justify such a large premium over other Android handsets or the Apple iPhone 6. That’s to say nothing of the disaster that’ll ensue if the customers opt for a curved version that isn’t widely available.