In its latest earnings call, Samsung has teased its upcoming AI glasses, but also painted a pretty bleak picture of the ongoing RAM crisis.
The RAM and storage shortage has affected the entire tech industry, with prices on everything going up, in some cases dramatically. Even at Samsung’s scale, the world’s largest smartphone maker isn’t immune to this, with its own set of price hikes not too long ago.
In its latest earnings call, Samsung addressed the shortages multiple times, saying that it believes the problem will get even worse in 2027. Samsung executives commented that “AI-related demand” will continue to grow its memory business, but that “supply growth” is tricky due to the “lead time involved for new fab expansions.” In other words, Samsung doesn’t have the immediate ability to address the increased demend for RAM and storage and, as such, the shortages can’t be easily solved.
Samsung warns that “very tight inventory” today has led to a record low for demand fulfillment, and that the gap between supply and demand will “widen further” in 2027.
We also have very tight inventory and available supply is far short of customer demand. In fact, our demand fulfillment rate is now at a record low. And unlike previous years, customers who are concerned about supply shortages are actually bringing forward their demand for 2027 already. So currently, just based on prebooked demand alone, the supply-demand gap is looking to widen further in 2027 versus this year.
As far as the mobile side of things go, Samsung explains that it is looking to “enhance cost efficiency” on its smartphone lineup, and also looks forward towards its next releases.
This includes a teaser for AI glasses, which Samsung says will deliver “immersive multimodal AI experiences.” There’s also mention of new foldables coming down the line (expected to debut in July):
MX will maintain our strategy focused on expanding flagship sales through our leadership in advancing AI capabilities and form factor innovation. For foldable devices, we plan to strengthen our product development to stay ahead of evolving customer needs. For eco products, we will drive premium sales with even more advanced Galaxy AI capabilities and health features and expand our TWS liner. We also plan to deliver immersive multimodal AI experiences through diverse form factors such as AI glasses.
2026 will be a challenging year with ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and profitability impacted by rising cost pressures across the industry. Nevertheless, we will maintain our focus on expanding flagship sales powered by AI leadership and pursue cost efficiency initiatives to minimize the impact on profitability.
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