Samsung launched the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and Galaxy S25 Ultra at starting prices of $1,199, $1,299, and $1,299 respectively. So, why was the Galaxy S24 Ultra costlier than the Galaxy S23 Ultra and how did Samsung manage to offer the Galaxy S25 Ultra for the same price as its predecessor? Well, a new report sheds light on that.Counterpoint Research has published an analysis of the bill-of-materials (BoM) cost of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra. SoC cost went upThe Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a more powerful chipset than the Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2) and the Galaxy S25 Ultra uses a more powerful processor than its predecessor (Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3).With each new device using a more powerful processor than the model before it, which uses a more advanced fabrication process, the cost of its SoC is higher than the chipset in the previous model. The research firm claims that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s chipset is 21% costlier than the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s SoC.Memory cost fluctuatedThe base and mid variants of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra have the same amount of RAM and storage (12GB + 256GB and 12GB + 512GB). With that, you may think that memory for the three devices would have cost the same but that’s not the case. The report points out that since the last two years, memory prices have been fluctuating quite a lot. As such, the memory for the Galaxy S24 Ultra was cheaper than that for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. However, the memory for the Galaxy S25 Ultra is significantly costlier than the one for its predecessor.Galaxy S25 Ultra's display costs less than Galaxy S24 Ultra's screenThe Galaxy S24 Ultra’s display offered two major improvements over the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s screen. First, the revolutionary anti-reflective coating. Second, higher peak brightness (1,750 nits vs 2,600 nits). With that, the cost of display panel for the 2024’s model was 4% higher than that for the 2023’s model. However, the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s screen doesn’t offer upgrades as significant. You get a slightly larger size (6.8 inches vs 6.9 inches) and better protection (Corning Gorilla Glass Armor vs. Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2). Despite that, its cost is single digit lower than that of its predecessor, which could be due to process improvements.Camera and RF parts cost went downThe Galaxy S24 Ultra offered a higher resolution periscope camera compared to that of the Galaxy S23 Ultra (50MP vs. 10MP). However, it had a lower optical zoom. As such, Counter Research says that the cost of the periscope camera of the 2024 model was lower than that of the 2023 model. However, the cost of the whole camera setup remained the same. The Galaxy S25 Ultra offers a higher resolution ultra wide camera compared to that of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, since the other cameras remained unchanged and the lens and module costs declined, the cost of the total camera setup of this year’s model was 8% lower than that of the last year’s model.Lastly, we have the cost study of radio frequency (RF) components. The Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra haven’t offered significant connectivity improvements over their predecessors. Along with that, the technology has matured quite a lot. For example, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra uses two SDR735 transceivers for 5G FR1, the Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a single SDR875 transceivers. As such, there was a 10% decline in the RF parts cost for the Galaxy S25 Ultra.With that, the BoM cost of the Galaxy S25 Ultra is 3.4% higher than that of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which warranted a price increase. It will be interesting to see what the case will be with the Galaxy S26 Ultra.The post From S23 Ultra to S25 Ultra: How Samsung’s flagships evolved in cost and value appeared first on SamMobile.