Samsung’s mobile division’s COO Won-Jun Choi said that the shortage of RAM, triggered by the popularity of AI, was the reason for the increase in the price of the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus smartphones.
Samsung’s mobile division’s COO Won-Jun Choi said that the shortage of RAM, triggered by the popularity of AI, was the reason for the increase in the price of the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus smartphones.
In a comment to The Verge, Won-Jun Choi pointed out that the $100 price hike was «significantly influenced» by memory shortages and customs tariffs.
Samsung recently introduced the S26 line, which it calls not regular smartphones but «AI phones.» The Galaxy S26 gets twice the storage for a higher price — 256GB instead of 128GB, though its $899 price tag is still $40 more than the 256GB S25 cost at launch.
Samsung’s chip partner Qualcomm warned in its February quarterly results that it was seeing a significant decline in its mobile phone business due to memory shortages. The company said that demand for components from the artificial intelligence industry would likely drive the overall mobile phone industry throughout the year.
International Data Corporation, a global market research firm, has warned that it is seeing the largest drop in global smartphone shipments ever recorded, down 12,9% through 2026. The researchers said this is «not a temporary downturn, but a tsunami-like shock» caused by memory shortages affecting the consumer electronics market.
