Smartphones Under $6,000 Disappearing? Memory Price Hikes Push Samsung A-Series Up $500–$3,000, Chen Chi-Meng Urges: 'Buy Now'

Rising memory prices are not only increasing the cost of AI servers and computers but are also gradually impacting consumer smartphones. Chen Chi-Meng, General Manager of Samsung Electronics Taiwan's Mobile Communications Division, stated today (11) that due to rising memory and component costs, the Galaxy A-series has already undergone a price adjustment, with increases ranging from $500 to $3,000 depending on the model. Tablets have already been re-priced twice. He observed that smartphones under $6,000, once common in Taiwan, are now "quite hard to find," and directly advised consumers during a joint media briefing: "Buy the A-series now."

Chen spoke at the pre-order pickup event for the Galaxy Z flagship foldable series and later addressed media in a joint interview. While pre-orders for the new foldable phones increased over 30% year-on-year, the discussion quickly turned to the ongoing memory and component price hikes affecting the entire 3C industry.

He emphasized that memory demand is not driven solely by smartphones but spans multiple industries and devices. Market conditions suggest this strong demand will persist for at least the next one to two years. With demand remaining high, he believes memory prices are "unlikely to see significant declines" and will remain a key factor influencing smartphone cost structures.

The A-series has already seen price hikes of $500–$3,000; tablets adjusted twice

Rising memory and component costs have already begun affecting Samsung’s product pricing. Chen revealed that the Galaxy A-series underwent one price adjustment, with increases of $500 to $3,000 depending on the model. Samsung tablets have already been re-priced twice.

Interestingly, the price hikes have not caused an immediate sales drop. He noted that A-series sales remained stable after the adjustment, and tablet sales did not weaken significantly despite two price increases.

Chen explained that this is because the cost pressure is industry-wide, not unique to Samsung. For example, some laptops have seen even larger price increases than tablets, and physical 3C retailers frequently adjust laptop prices. Consumers are gradually recognizing that electronics are being affected by memory and component price volatility.

However, he stressed that Taiwan Samsung continues to absorb as much cost as possible to minimize consumer impact and avoids frequent price adjustments like some other products.

Why low-end phones face the most pressure? Cost ratio is key

Notably, the impact of memory price hikes is not evenly distributed across all price segments—mid-to-low-end models are hit hardest. The same component cost increase represents a small portion of a high-end flagship’s price but a much larger share of a device priced at just a few thousand to ten thousand dollars. This leaves less room for brands to absorb costs internally.

Chen pointed out that finding smartphones under $6,000 in Taiwan is becoming increasingly difficult, suggesting this could be a market trend over the next one to two years.

He also observed that some brands, facing cost pressure on low-end models, may not just raise prices but also reduce low-spec model supply and increase production of higher-spec devices to rebalance their product mix and profitability.

In other words, beyond visible price hikes, rising memory costs may also reshape which price points and specifications are available in the market.

S-series prices currently unchanged—Chen: 'Buy now if you plan to'

Will the high-end Galaxy S-series follow with price increases? Chen stated that Samsung has not adjusted the pricing of existing S-series models. However, he did not rule out future increases.

He said he cannot predict how much further memory prices may rise, but strong demand is undeniable, and these costs will inevitably influence future smartphone pricing. Therefore, for consumers considering an S-series purchase, his advice is: "Buy as soon as possible."

Regarding the A-series, he repeatedly urged: "Buy the A-series now."

Still, Chen emphasized that brands cannot immediately pass all cost increases to consumers, as price hikes must consider consumer acceptance. Moving forward, brands must balance sales volume, average selling price, gross margin, and consumer affordability.

Fold 8’s nominal price up, but capacity upgrades reduce consumer impact

Even for this year’s new foldable flagship, Samsung has adopted a similar strategy. Chen noted that while some Fold 8 models are nominally $4,500–$6,000 more expensive than the previous Fold 7, the current pre-order includes capacity upgrades—such as getting a 512GB model at the price of a 256GB version. This nearly offsets the $6,000 price difference, making the "perceived price" much less noticeable than the listed price.

This reflects how brands, amid rising costs, use capacity upgrades, product bundling, and channel promotions to reduce consumer sensitivity to price hikes.

Taiwan smartphone market: sales volume down 6–8%, but revenue up

But if Samsung’s A-series sales remain stable post-price-hike and S-series demand holds, why is Taiwan’s overall smartphone market still expected to decline?

Chen maintained his earlier forecast for Taiwan’s 2026 smartphone market: unit sales may drop 6–8% year-on-year, but revenue could grow 6–8%.

This indicates a clear "volume down, price up" trend. Strong demand for high-end flagships and rising average selling prices mean total revenue can grow even as fewer units are sold.

If Samsung’s sales are unaffected, where did the lost market volume go? Chen gave a direct answer: "If Samsung’s sales aren’t impacted, then other brands must be feeling the pressure."

He noted that third-party sales-out data shows the top two smartphone brands in Taiwan saw little impact in the first half of the year. Thus, the market’s volume decline is clearly not evenly distributed across all brands.

Market shrinkage doesn’t affect all brands equally—further industry consolidation likely

This suggests that beyond "volume down, price up," Taiwan’s 2026 smartphone market may also see brand market share reallocation. As memory and component costs continue to rise, brands with lower average selling prices and reliance on mid-to-low-end segments face greater pricing pressure than those with higher-end product mixes.

Chen gave an example: for a brand with an average selling price around $8,000–$10,000, a price increase of several thousand dollars significantly affects consumer entry barriers and price perception—more so than for flagship models.

Thus, smartphone makers now face not just "to raise or not to raise prices," but how to restructure low-end and high-end supply and rebalance volume, ASP, and gross margin.

As sub-$6,000 phones gradually exit the market, product mixes shift toward higher specs, and high-end brands maintain stable sales, Taiwan’s "volume down, price up" trend may evolve into further contraction of the low-end segment, upward product mix shift, and accelerated brand concentration.