By Elizabeth Koh

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co.'s newest flagship devices come with 5G, bigger screens, faster processing power -- and a lower price point to buy in.

Last year, Samsung rolled out its 5G-enabled Galaxy Note 10 Plus with a $1,300 price tag. But the base model of its 5G Galaxy Note 20 phone, unveiled at a Wednesday virtual event, will cost $1,000 when it hits retail shelves.

The lowered price reflects the availability of 5G across Samsung's premium phone lineup. But it also illustrates an industry struggling to cash in on a next-generation technology that only early adopters seem excited about. Until recently, handset makers and telecom executives had banked on 5G jump-starting a smartphone industry that has posted consecutive years of declining shipments.

Many consumers, questioning the value of dropping $1,000 or more for a new smartphone, are also feeding a market for lower-priced devices. Google's just-launched Pixel 4a and Apple Inc.'s iPhone SE released in the spring both sell for less than $400. Meanwhile, Samsung has pivoted its strategy in recent years to offer phones between those two price points.

Samsung has bet big on 5G to bolster sales growth in its most profitable user base -- people still willing to shell out for pricey phones. When the South Korean tech giant introduced its first 5G device in April 2019, it hoped consumers would see enough in the smartphone to set it apart from similar products offered by Chinese rivals at lower prices. Samsung also hoped pushing 5G options early would set it further apart from Apple, which has yet to release a 5G-enabled iPhone.

But the coronavirus pandemic has dealt an especially tough blow, prompting phone makers to retool sales strategies. Samsung's smartphone shipments tumbled 29% in the April-to-June quarter -- a more severe drop than the industrywide decline of 16% -- and saw Huawei Technologies Co. usurp its position as the world's No. 1 vendor. The economic damage caused by pandemic lockdowns also affected Samsung's key markets in Europe and North America, while China's Huawei benefited from a spending bounceback in its home country.

Part of that adjustment has been pushing phone prices down for once-exclusive features such as 5G.

"Inevitably those prices were going to have to come down, in order to get 5G in the hands of more users," said Bryan Ma, an analyst with IDC. "When you look at the first salvo of 5G phones potentially hitting four-digit price tags, those weren't going to hit a mass market audience."

The average selling price of a 5G-enabled phone globally has already fallen to $813 during the first three months of 2020, a sharp reduction from the prior year's $1,186, according to Canalys, a market-research firm. The slide is fueled by China's 5G rollout, where such devices fetch lower prices, said Nicole Peng, a Canalys analyst.

Samsung has pushed more affordable offerings in response to the pandemic, from releasing a $600 5G-enabled Galaxy A71 in June to offering discounts and financing for its Galaxy S20 handsets that launched in February -- ahead of the World Health Organization's coronavirus pandemic designation. This Friday, Samsung plans to release another midtier device with 5G connectivity, called the Galaxy A51, for $500.

Samsung typically launches its flagship phones at glitzy events packed with thousands of screaming fans. But the Galaxy Note 20 launch was instead live-streamed from South Korea, leaning on a tiled video backdrop of Samsung users to communicate enthusiasm instead of the in-person crowds. Its executives explained device features in the shadow of augmented reality projections of the new gadgets.

"At the end of the day we're about empowering you, so in this difficult time you can focus on what really matters," said Roh Tae-moon, the president of the company's mobile division.

The Galaxy Note 20 comes in two variants: the $1,000 base model with a 6.7-inch display and three cameras on the back. A larger version, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, has a 6.9-inch screen and an additional laser autofocus sensor on its cameras that bump the price to $1,300. Samsung has often packed its flashiest features into the Galaxy Note, the industry's first megasize phone when it first launched nine years ago.

But the Galaxy Note 20 lineup offers more tweaks to the existing lineup than new innovations, said Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy, an Austin, Texas, technology consulting firm. "These are refinements," he said. "A lot of these things are improvements on prior products."

Samsung also unveiled new versions of its tablet, smartwatch and wireless earbuds Wednesday. It also teased its Galaxy Z Fold 2, the second version of the industry's first mainstream foldable-screen phone, ahead of a Sept. 1 debut. The phone, which opens and closes like a book, got off to a rocky start last year when tech reviewers found design faults.

Flagship devices play an outsize role, as they command the highest prices and float new features that help shape the company's branding. Samsung's own flagship phones signal where new ideas in the industry are headed, even if they make up less of the company's overall profit margins, said Mr. Ma, the IDC analyst.

Write to Elizabeth Koh at Elizabeth.Koh@wsj.com