Galaxy S26 Ultra set to dominate Samsung's 2026 smartphone lineup

The Samsung Galaxy S26 range is mere weeks away from being revealed, but none of us can help but glut ourselves on the remaining morsels of whispers and rumors out there. The latest news to be spun like the finest gossamer thread, comes from notable leaker Ice Universe (via Android Headlines).

According to Ice Universe, Samsung is betting big that those who'll buy from the fresh Galaxy S26 range, as it's launched, will overwhelmingly be drawn to the largest phone of the bunch, as leaked production numbers show a big emphasis on the Galaxy S26 Ultra over the smaller two models.

The Ultra is always ultra popular

Fresh from Ice Universe is the news of Samsung's production numbers for the upcoming Galaxy S26 range. And far and away, the biggest order is for the S26 Ultra smartphones.

The gap is staggering. The orders of 600 thousand and 700 thousand for the Galaxy S26 Plus and basic S26 variants are no small change, but even combined, they can't touch the 3.6 million orders for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Remember, these aren't consumer sales numbers, they're simply the amount Samsung will have ready for pre-orders and day one sales — and it's very indicative of which model Samsung thinks will be the most popular.

It has a good reason for thinking that, too. The Ultra model is generally always the standout in any year's Galaxy S range, and it's easy to see why. When given the choice, people will tend to opt for the biggest and most powerful option. People don't like feeling like they're missing out, and grabbing the Ultra is the easiest way to do that.

This is reflected in each year's sales, which tend to show that the Ultra has a strong lead over the standard S model and Plus — and this is probably why Samsung originally planned to spice up those two phones by renaming them, before rowing back on that idea.

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Of course, this could all be turned on its head if, by the time February 25 rolls around, there's an upswell of support for the S26 Plus. But that's, to be frank, quite unlikely. While the other two models in the S-range are always good phones, it's always the Ultra that stands out, and Samsung is betting that'll be the case again in 2026.