Opinion | The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 may be yet another step in the wrong direction for the smartphone industry

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 is billed to be launched on August 7, which is just about three weeks away at this point. We already know quite about the devices but information on how they will be priced has been mostly elusive. Until now, that is.

According to Roland Quandt, the Note 10 will start at €999. The Note 10+ will have a base price tag of €1149. Both base models will ship with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

The Galaxy Note 10 phones were always going to expensive, so there's not much surprising about the leaked numbers. That said, we expect these prices to translate into USD directly. The conversion rate should be directly offset by the included VAT in the EU prices. 

The Galaxy Note 9 started at US$999, and we expect the Note 10 to keep that price tag. The Note 10 looks to be a gimped model in any case, and most buyers will likely opt for the Note 10+, which is the real successor to the Note 9 anyway. 

That's a pretty sad development, we have to say. It's not unexpected, though. Earlier in the year, Samsung released three Galaxy S10 phones. The cheapest of the trio, the S10e, launched with an MSRP slightly higher than that of the Galaxy S9. The S10, a direct successor to the S9, was then a whopping US$180 more expensive than its predecessor. We also saw something similar with the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro.

At US$999, the Galaxy Note 9 was the best thing Samsung had to offer at the time. At US$999 this time out, though, you only get a regular Note 10, with the top of the line Note 10+ commanding a US$150 premium.

It is understandable, of course. Companies are looking to make more money. Apple's business model places importance on profit margins than anything else, and rivals are starting to adopt it. It's been a steady increase in prices over the past three generations, and we don't expect an end to that anytime soon.