Galaxy Note 9 Pricing Rumor Alleges Higher Entry Point For Pen Wielding Superphone

Smartphone fans can thank the iPhone X for ushering in an era of insanely high-priced flagship smartphones. While Apple has certainly sold a lot of iPhone X models, Cupertino wasn't exactly happy with the sales numbers and has been looking for ways to slash costs and increase sales. Other smartphone makers seem to have missed that pricing issue and the fact that most smartphone buyers have opted to keep their devices or buy cheaper models as evidenced by smartphone market stagnation. Rumors have even recently claimed that the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note families could be merged in the future.

A new rumor has now surfaced that claims Samsung is targeting a very high price for the Note 9, which would put it in the elite class shared with Apple's flagships. This rumor comes from Roland Quandt, a person with a very good record when it comes to predicting things in the smartphone world. According to Quandt, when the Galaxy Note 9 hits Europe it will sell for €1050 for the starter 128GB flavor. That would work out to about $1,230 here in the U.S. at current exchange rates.

Buyers who wanted the larger 512GB storage version would have to shell out €1250 or about $1,460. When the not exactly record-busting Galaxy Note 8 launched last year in Europe it started at less than €900 for a 64GB version. The Note 9 family is expected to launch in the States at less than straight European conversion prices.

Rumors suggest that U.S. pricing will be $999 for the 128GB version and $1,199 for the 512GB version. The rub for Samsung is that Apple is widely expected to cut prices on its iPhones when they launch this year meaning the Note 9 is likely going to be substantially more expensive.