The success of the Galaxy S26 will not spare Samsung’s mobile device division from significant losses this year

Situation with memory shortage: how Samsung responds

The lack of LPDDR RAM chips forces smartphone manufacturers either to raise prices or cut margins. This has already affected Samsung – the company's mobile division announced possible losses for the current year.

What official spokespeople say
Samsung's mobile segment head Tae‑moon Roh warned management that due to supply restrictions, the division could end up in the red. That would be the first annual loss in the history of its smartphone business. At the same time, the memory manufacturing unit expects record profits.

Why memory is so important
- Nvidia’s new AI processor Vera will require 1.5 TB of LPDDR5X.
- The supercomputer Vera Rubin NVL72 will be equipped with 36 such processors.
- A standard Galaxy S26 Ultra has 12 GB of LPDDR5X.

This means that one supercomputer uses memory equivalent to the memory in 4,600 smartphones.

How this affects the market
Companies producing consumer electronics are forced to raise prices and even cancel some releases due to chip shortages. According to Money Today forecasts, by the end of the quarter, RAM costs could rise by more than 80 %.

Samsung’s measures
- Switching the mobile division into “emergency management mode” because of rising prices and shortages.
- Planning a 30 % cut in expenses – including moving top managers from business class to economy class on flights.

What helps
Despite the difficulties, sales of the Galaxy S26 series remain strong. Counterpoint Research analysts note that the first flagship models sold better than the previous Galaxy S25 series, and in the U.S. and Western Europe sales growth reached double‑digit percentages.

Thus, the RAM shortage poses a serious challenge for Samsung: to maintain profitability of its mobile business while prices for key components rise.