Galaxy S26 Lineup Outperforms Galaxy S25 Early On

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26 series in February, and all three phones finally went on sale last month. It’s been a few weeks since then, and now market research reports are coming in, detailing Galaxy S26 series’ sales compared to those of the Galaxy S25 series.

Galaxy S26 series does better than Galaxy S25 in first three weeks of sale

In its latest report, Counterpoint Research says the Galaxy S26 series’ sales grew 29% in the US over the first three weeks compared to those of the Galaxy S25 series during the same period last year. Moreover, preorders were also strong, rising by as much as 25% across channels, as Samsung had claimed in a press release.

The report adds that some retailers, including Best Buy, saw nearly double the preorder volumes compared to the previous generation. That was likely driven by double storage offers at these retailers rather than Samsung’s own store. In addition, the slightly later release this year, along with a midweek launch, also helped boost early sales.

Out of the three models, the Galaxy S26 Ultra (review) dominated the lineup, which isn’t surprising given early supply chain reports had already hinted at this outcome. Counterpoint also notes that the higher prices of the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ may have pushed more buyers toward the Ultra.

In our review of the Galaxy S26+, we called it the awkward middle child, more like a stepping stone to push buyers toward the Ultra. Its pricing didn’t help either, and for just $200 more, you get a host of Ultra features, including the all-new Privacy Display, S Pen, a bigger battery, better cameras, faster charging, and more.

Lastly, the research firm notes that strong carrier promotions also played a major role. US networks offered aggressive trade-in deals, with some even providing the Ultra at no cost under certain conditions, further driving its popularity. All of this helped boost Galaxy S26 series sales overall.

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