Samsung warns of price hikes across electronics as surging memory costs affect all
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Samsung expects memory chip supply shortages to raise prices across the electronics industry, including potentially among its own consumer products.
PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL - Samsung Electronics expects memory chip supply shortages to raise prices across the electronics industry, including potentially among its own consumer products.
The South Korean company is the world’s largest memory-chip maker, but even its portfolio is not immune to the surging cost of the component essential to everything from smartphones and laptops to connected home appliances and self-driving cars.
“There’s going to be issues around semiconductor supplies and it’s going to affect everyone,” said Mr Lee Wonjin, president and head of global marketing.
“Prices are going up even as we speak. Obviously, we don’t want to convey that burden to the consumers but we’re going to be at a point where we have to actually consider repricing our products.”
He was speaking from the CES 2026 tech show in Las Vegas, where Samsung is showing off its vast range of electronic products, from tiny wireless earbuds to 130-inch wall-dominating TVs.
Like most consumer-facing brands at the show, Samsung is pitching its vision of a more interconnected, AI-enhanced line-up of products – and confronting the rising cost of production.
The AI data centre build-out boom has brought about unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth memory, a lucrative product that has lifted Samsung and fellow memory maker SK Hynix’s stock prices to new highs and constrained supply lines for other uses.
Major brands, including Dell Technologies and Xiaomi, have warned about potential price increases, while others, including Lenovo Group, in 2025 began stockpiling memory chips in anticipation.
Counterpoint Research in November forecast a 50 per cent price increase for memory modules through the second quarter of this year.
Samsung is better positioned than competitors who are not able to manufacture memory for their own products and Mr Lee sees the company outpacing the broader market.
“We’re more optimistic about the outlook of 2026 than what we have experienced in 2025,” he said.
“Mobile phones, with the emergence of AI, I think people are looking at upgrading their products to be able to leverage the new technologies.” BLOOMBERG
