Flagship phones are dying – and no one seems to care
The scent of soldering iron and the hum of server rooms have always been strangely comforting to me, a fascination sparked during my early research work at the Smithsonian Institution. Now, as Senior Editor at TechBloom, I dive deep into the ever-evolving digital landscape, preferring to get my hands dirty with field research – attending conferences, interviewing engineers, and dissecting prototypes firsthand. My background, rooted in rigorous academic training at the University of Toronto, informs my.
A quiet demise: the end of the 'flagship'
Entry-level flagships are on life support, but most consumers are too busy to notice. That’s probably by design. Between the hype surrounding the foldable iPhone Ultra and the Galaxy Z Wide Fold, it’s easy to lose sight of what we’re losing.
As if it wasn't enough that manufacturers are eyeing the end of dainty flagships, the base premium phones are being aggressively deprioritized. For instance, while Samsung will likely adopt the new UFS 5.0 storage standard next year, it will be gated behind the Galaxy S27 Ultra and the rumored Galaxy S27 Pro. The other two models will likely make do with UFS 4.1, or worse, UFS 4.0. As a result, they will be less responsive than the pricier siblings, with everything from app launches to 8K recording taking just a beat longer.
The cost of foldability
Sure, the average user may not feel the lag, but it’s a specs disparity nonetheless. Those springing for a flagship are usually not looking to settle for less than the best, but Samsung seems happy to plow ahead regardless. Performance is for those who pay up.
It’s not just Samsung that’s limiting the best performance specs for its top-tier handsets. Apple is also rumored to cut corners on the iPhone 18, making the starter model more like the budget-friendly iPhone 18e. Even Qualcomm is manufacturing two versions of its next flagship chipset, with the faster silicon reserved for ultra-premium phones. The culprits are rising chip and components costs. By reserving the best components for elite devices, companies can contain costs on the base models. This might keep the starting price from ballooning, but it’s too early to celebrate an unchanged retail price for the iPhone 18 and Galaxy S27 Ultra.
A 30% forecast – and a stark reality
On one hand, phone manufacturers are supposedly trying to keep base flagship prices intact. On the other hand, the foldable market is forecasted to grow 30% year-over-year in 2026, driven chiefly by the iPhone Ultra. Receive the latest editorials Subscribe By subscribing you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. That's understandable, given iOS users have been holding out for a foldable phone for nearly a decade. But with Apple’s first bendable device rumored to start at $2,000 and the successor to the $2,900 Galaxy Z TriFold is in the works, a new reality has emerged. The market for obscenely expensive flagships is thriving.
This suggests that customers are ready to splurge on smartphones, as long as they provide utility. Holding back standard flagships for no reason punctures the narrative that specs must be held back to sustain demand. If anything, it proves that a fully-speced phone will be snapped up even in a dismal economy. Not everyone wants a top-shelf flagship, even if they have the money. Many find the highest-tier models big and burly. Standard flagships were supposed to offer top-tier trappings in a compact body. Somewhere along the way, manufacturers lost the plot, intentionally handicapping the entry-level models to widen the gap between them and the top models.
This was done in the hopes of nudging customers toward the expensive variants. What has happened instead is that customers have lost their appetite for base models, as is reflected in shipment numbers. If sales continue to crater, manufacturers might finally have the excuse they need to pull the plug. That’s hardly a stretch, considering the mini, Plus, SE, FE, Edge, and Air labels that have been introduced, retired, or treated like embarrassing mistakes.
The $1,000 club – the new normal?
If the base flagship dies, Pro and Ultra-level variants that cost upward of $1,000 will be the only real flagships. By downgrading the affordable options while hiking prices on the premium ones, Apple and Samsung are slowly suffocating the smaller models. Meanwhile, we are too busy ogling trifolds to notice we are being played.”