Co-CEO of Samsung’s mobile division, TM Roh, spoke to the media at the CES 2026 trade show, saying “We’re facing one of the harshest pricing situations in memory” and warning that “smartphone price adjustments may be necessary”.
Samsung is working with other companies in its supply chain to try and deal with the situation in the long term as all kinds of electronics are affected by this – notably smartphones, but also TVs and other smart devices.
Samsung’s Global Marketing Head Wonjin Lee told Bloomberg that the company is considering “repricing” its phones to match the new economic reality. You can watch a short interview with Lee over on Bloomberg. He talks about memory prices, the future of TVs, AI and more.
Head Wonjin Lee giving an interview to Bloomberg
Samsung’s semiconductor division was the largest chip maker in 2024, though it did cede the memory crown in 2025 to rival SK Hynix. Even so, the sibling division that builds smartphones is having trouble sourcing memory chips at a good price.
The upcoming launch of the Galaxy S26 series will be a watershed moment for Samsung – Apple overtook it to become the largest smartphone maker in the world and the iPhone 17 series is selling very well. This would be a terrible moment for Samsung to raise prices – that’s why the company is reportedly considering a price freeze for the S26 launch in select markets.
Samsung’s executives also spoke of AI – the thing that every tech company under the sun is chasing and, ironically, the cause of the current memory price boom. According to a survey conducted by Samsung, AI brand awareness among Galaxy users has gone from 30% to 80% in the last year.
The company plans to ship 400 million new AI-powered devices this year (smartphones, TVs, home appliances, etc.), which would double the total of Galaxy AI devices out there.