The mobile division has asked suppliers to reduce fourth quarter component deliveries by 20% to 30% to avoid selling low margin hardware and prevent excess inventory. Average purchase prices for mobile memory rose approximately 211% year over year, with LPDDR5X RAM specifically increasing by 175%. Samsung is now prioritizing premium models where higher hardware costs are easier to pass on to consumers.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Story
AI Memory Boom Forces Samsung to Cut Phone Output by 30%
Earnings13 days ago
Samsung reported a preliminary operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, even as its mobile business is estimated to have lost 1 trillion to 2 trillion won in the third quarter. This financial divergence stems from a corporate structure where the semiconductor division collects high profits from the AI memory boom while the separate smartphone unit must pay those elevated prices for components, erasing margins on budget and midrange Galaxy devices.
Looking for more context or analysis?
Tilt chat provides reliable, tailored insights, alerts, and automations.