Samsung managed to perform relatively well in Europe during the second quarter of 2026. The overall smartphone market fell by 10% compared with last year. However, Samsung saw a small increase in its shipments.

The European market shipped about 35 million smartphones in Q2 2026. Higher phone prices and fewer discounts made people less willing to buy new phones. Economic problems and rising inflation also reduced consumer spending.

Samsung benefited from the growing demand for premium smartphones. Many customers still wanted high-end phones even when they were trying to control their spending. This helped Samsung perform better than many other brands.

Western Europe was mainly important for Samsung during the quarter. The region performed better than expected, with Samsung showing small growth. Apple also had a very strong quarter, helping the premium smartphone market.

The situation was different in Eastern Europe. Customers there rely more on affordable smartphones, so higher prices had a bigger impact. Many Chinese smartphone brands also struggled as demand for cheaper phones became weaker.

Samsung’s strong position in both premium and mid-range smartphones can help it in the current market. Its wide range of devices allows it to target different types of customers. However, the company may still face pressure if the market continues to shrink.

Counterpoint Research expects Europe’s smartphone market to decline further in the coming quarters. Lower-end smartphone companies are likely to face the biggest problems. Samsung and Apple are expected to remain stronger than many other brands.

Samsung’s Q2 2026 performance was positive compared with the wider market. While Europe’s smartphone shipments dropped sharply, Samsung managed to record small growth.

Samsung has quietly raised prices for some of its advanced chipmaking services, such as 4nm and 5nm, by as much as 15 percent for new orders, according to a Reuters report citing people familiar with the matter.

Notably, Samsung’s foundry business is finally catching a break, and it’s coming straight from the AI boom. The move reflects how tight AI chip demand has become, and Samsung is now in a position to charge more for its capacity.

Chinese and US customers see the biggest hikes

Interestingly, Chinese customers are absorbing the steepest increases. Prices for SF4 (4nm) orders from China and the US have gone up 10 to 15 percent month over month, while Taiwan-based customers (TSMC’s home turf) are seeing smaller bumps of 5 to 10 percent.

US export restrictions on chipmaking equipment have pushed Chinese firms to lean more heavily on foundries like Samsung, giving Samsung more pricing power in that market.

The 5nm SF5 process has also seen prices climb 10 to 15 percent, while the older 8nm node is up nearly 10 percent.

Samsung’s foundry division has reportedly been losing money since 2022, struggling to close the gap with TSMC. But with TSMC’s leading-edge capacity fully booked, customers are increasingly turning to Samsung and Intel instead.

Google is also said to be in talks with Samsung for SF4 production, joining names like Qualcomm, Tesla, Apple, and Broadcom already on board. If pricing trends hold, analysts believe Samsung’s foundry unit could turn profitable as early as next year.

The title may have already blown your mind, but the news is Samsung Galaxy S25 flagship has seen a price hike in India, ranging from INR 4,000 to INR 12,000.

Galaxy S26 series has already landed with a price hike over the Galaxy S25 series, and Samsung isn’t keeping last year’s flagship model more affordable than the latest.

A retailer document shared by AbhishekYadav confirms that Samsung has revised the prices of the Galaxy S25 in India. The standard model is getting pricier in the market, with the bump going up to INR 12,000.

Here is the breakdown of the revised List Prices (Inclusive of GST):

• Galaxy S25 (12GB / 256GB): The price has been increased from INR 80,999 to INR 84,999, making it dearer by INR 4,000.
• Galaxy S25 (12GB / 512GB): The premium storage tier takes the biggest hit, jumping from ₹92,999 to a whopping INR 104,999, which is a staggering increase of INR 12,000.

The internal “Product Price Revision” document doesn’t cite a specific reason for this aggressive pricing update. However, it’s largely due to the memory crunch, which has made crucial components aggressively expensive.

In comparison, the Galaxy S26 starts at INR 87,999, while the 512GB model costs INR 1,07,999. At present, Samsung is offering INR 8,000 off both storage variants for an unspecified period.

Are you still planning to buy the Galaxy S25 5G at its new price, or are you looking at other alternatives?

Samsung Display officially unveiled the “Wide-View” OLED that tackles brightness loss around foldable creases. The company is heading to IMID 2026 in Busan with a new OLED lineup and one recognition for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Anyone who has used a foldable for more than a week knows the issue. The curved area around the central fold doesn’t look as bright as the rest of the screen when you’re viewing it head-on, and depending on the angle, that dip can be significant.

Samsung Display says today’s foldable panels lose roughly 60 percent of their side brightness on the curved crease region compared to flat, front-facing areas. It’s a side effect of how flexible OLED layers are built, and it’s been a limitation.

That’s where the new Wide-View Display comes in.

This 7.6-inch panel uses a reworked organic emissive layer and structure to keep brightness consistent across the curved crease area, not just the flat parts of the screen.

If this makes it into production, it could mean upcoming Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip models render more evenly no matter where you’re looking on the panel, whether that’s a slideable, rollable, or a standard edge display.

A 20-inch stretchable display

Samsung Display is also bringing a 20-inch Wide Stretchable display, built by tiling two Micro LED panels into what functions as a single seamless screen.

It’s roughly double the size of earlier stretchable prototypes, and the company is pitching it for things like automotive dashboards, humanoid robots, and digital signage rather than phones.

On the recognition front, the OLED panel inside the Galaxy S26 Ultra picked up IMID’s “Display of the Year,” largely for being the first display with a built-in privacy mode.

Samsung Electronics is betting $158 million on HVAC production in South Korea as part of ramping up its AI data center cooling business.

The South Korean tech giant is putting real money behind an idea that’s been quietly reshaping its business priorities: HVAC is no longer just a side hustle; it’s a growth engine tied directly to the AI boom.

On August 19, Samsung confirmed plans to invest around KRW 240 billion (roughly $158 million) to set up a new HVAC production line at its Gwangju facility in Korea.

Spread across 21,500 square meters, the plant is expected to come online by 2028, and it will manufacture products under the FläktGroup brand, the Swedish HVAC specialist Samsung acquired last year.

Keeping AI data centers cool has become one of the biggest challenges. Samsung is positioning this Gwangju line to directly address that demand, with a focus on advanced cooling systems built for data center environments.

This new facility will become Samsung’s 15th manufacturing site worldwide, when combined with FläktGroup’s existing network, which already includes 14 plants serving the US, Europe, and India, with a new facility coming up in Pune, India.

Samsung’s Cheolgi Kim framed the move as part of a larger ambition: to turn HVAC into a genuine global business by 2030. Given how central cooling has become to AI hardware deployment, that goal looks a lot less far-fetched.