Samsung’s foray into thin phones has not come to an end, but the lack of Galaxy S25 Edge sales means that the Galaxy S26 Edge is going to be cancelled. Thankfully, the South Korean company has a far more successful line of thin smartphones that are selling better than expected.
Replacing The Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge
Details on the cancellation come from the well-connected team at SamMobile, with Asif Shaik reporting that the Galaxy S26 Edge will be replaced in the regular line-up with a Galaxy S26+. This backs up reporting earlier this month from NewsPim, which also highlighted the return of a Galaxy S26+ in place of an updated Galaxy S26 Edge.
The Galaxy S25+, along with previous Galaxy S+ models, sit in an awkward space. They offer higher specs than the vanilla Galaxy S but fall far short of those offered by the Galaxy Ultra. As phone sizes have increased, some of the key advantages over the vanilla handset have been lost.
Samsung is expected to rebadge the presumptive Galaxy S26 as the Galaxy S26 Pro, highlighting that even this lower S smartphone is one of the top-tier phones in Samsung’s range. And those looking for something more value-for-money will hold on for the mid-cycle release of the Galaxy S26 Fan Edition.
Samsung’s Thin Future Is Not The Galaxy S26 Edge
A well as being a disappointment to Samsung, the low sales of the S25 Edge and the cancellation of the updated S26 Edge will be noted by the competition. The fashionably thin phone was previewed in January before a summer release, and Samsung put a significant amount of time into its marketing. Presumably, after a flurry of those eager for the latest feature, the rest of the consumer market looked at the compromises (both real and perceived) and moved on.
All eyes will now be on Apple. It has also placed a significant amount of cachet into “thin is in” with the iPhone Air. There will, no doubt, be the same initial rush to buy the latest device from Apple, but will there be a constant river of buyers after that, or will the stated geekerati be all there is for the Air to dine on?
There is, of course, another tranche of slim phones that are proving successful and occupy a growing share of the market, that of foldable phones. Open out phones such as the Honor Magic V5, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, or the Oppo Find N5, and you find devices comfortably under the 5.6mm mark set by the iPhone AI.
According to Counterpoint Research, the Galaxy Z Fold7 is seeing sales two and a half times more than last year’s Galaxy Z Fold6. The secret to success for a thin phone looks to be “put a crease in it.” This bodes well for Samsung as the number one foldable manufacturer in the world, and proves an interesting baseline for Apple to consider if the mythical iPhone Fold finally appears in 2026.
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