Samsung used AMD Advancing AI 2026 event at Moscone Center West to detail just how closely the two companies worked together on HBM4, the memory now feeding AMD’s upcoming Helios AI platform.

Principal Engineer James Ahn confirmed (via Chosun) that Samsung HBM4 now ships inside AMD Instinct MI455X GPUs and the Helios AI platform, alongside RDIMM for EPYC CPUs.

HBM4 doubles I/O count to 2,000 pins, and Samsung paired that with a 4nm FinFET base die to boost bandwidth over 200%, shrink area by up to 70%, and cut power by half versus planar designs. Current HBM4 offers 36GB across 12 layers, while HBM4E will push to 64GB, 16Gbps pins, and 16-layer stacking.

In addition, Samsung’s 12nm-class 32Gb DDR5 RDIMM reaches 8.0Gbps and 256GB capacity while trimming power draw by 15%, rounding out its role across Helios.

Memory Business VP Bart Walker and Principal Engineer James Ahn represented Samsung at the session, framing the deal as the payoff of a relationship going back to 2007.

Walker traced the roots to GDDR4 shipments for AMD’s Radeon HD 2000 series, followed by 14nm FinFET collaboration in 2014, Radeon IP and server SSD/DRAM work in 2019, SmartSSD in 2020, the industry’s first CXL DRAM in 2021, and an Exynos 2400 built on RDNA3 in 2023.

AMD’s MI350 accelerators picked up Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3E last year, and a March 2026 agreement made Samsung a primary supplier, momentum tied to CEO Lisa Su’s earlier visit to Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus.

Samsung just gave its Galaxy foldable lineup a major shake-up, and pricing is naturally part of that conversation. At a press event in London, TM Roh unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8, officially marking the first time since 2019 that Samsung’s long-running two-model foldable strategy has expanded to a three-model system.

Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 start $100 more expensive than their predecessors. As the DRAM and memory size increase, the price increase widens further. Memory crunch, driven by the AI boom, is badly hurting premium smartphones.

With memory chips and other key components getting pricier across the industry, there’s been growing worry that future Galaxy phones could also be more expensive.

Roh addressed this directly, saying Samsung has been working closely with its supply chain partners to plan volumes and timelines, specifically to avoid any hiccups with Galaxy devices.

Samsung isn’t promising prices stay untouched no matter what. Roh made it clear that the company will try to absorb rising costs internally and won’t pass the entire burden onto customers.

That said, if expenses climb beyond what supply chain efficiency can offset, some of that increase will show up in the final price tag. In short, Samsung’s pricing promise is conditional, not guaranteed.

The company is doing what it can to protect consumers from inflated costs, but it’s also leaving the door open for adjustments if component prices keep climbing.

At a press event held at Old Billingsgate in London, TM Roh, President and Head of the DX Division, confirmed that Samsung wants to push Galaxy AI to 800 million devices by the end of this year, counting both new launches and older phones getting the update.

Roh made an interesting point here: for Samsung, the real competitive edge isn’t raw intelligence; it’s how well AI understands the user.

“People don’t want to learn AI; they want to get actual help from it in their daily lives,” he said. That’s essentially Samsung’s pitch for where AI is headed next: Agentic AI, or assistants that actually complete tasks instead of just answering questions.

Samsung isn’t relying on a single AI provider either

In-house tools like Gauss and Bixby handle native apps and device features, while Gemini powers Google-linked functions. On top of that, Samsung is working with Perplexity and reportedly evaluating more external AI partners.

Roh was clear about the strategy: “We do not insist on a single specific AI solution.”

This AI push comes right alongside Samsung’s expanded foldable lineup, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8, meaning Galaxy AI’s reach will scale across an even wider range of devices this year.

Samsung isn’t just expanding its foldable lineup; it’s also gearing up for a new phase in the foldable race, one where Apple could soon join the party. But TM Roh, President and Head of Samsung’s DX Division, isn’t worried.

Speaking at a press event in London, TM Roh said Samsung expects more companies to jump into foldables now that the category is maturing.

“We welcome this,” he said, framing new entrants, Apple included, as validation that foldables are going mainstream. Hardware that folds is one thing; making the entire experience feel native to that folding screen is another.

The Samsung mobile chief was quick to add a reality check: seven years of software, UI, and app optimization work isn’t something rivals can replicate overnight.

The South Korean tech giant introduced its first foldable device in 2019. Since then, the company has dropped new generations of foldables every year. In recent years, we’ve seen aggressive lineups as the competition intensified.

Apple, which remained away from the foldable market for years, is finally entering the segment this year. The first product, the iPhone Ultra, is reportedly coming this September, while the official sale could begin by the end of the year.

The new Samsung Galaxy Z8 series is officially out, and if you’ve been comparing prices across regions, you’ve probably noticed something: the foldable phones cost noticeably more outside Korea, up to 48 percent more, in fact.

So why the gap? Samsung’s mobile chief just explained it.

Samsung foldable phones are cheaper in Korea

At the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event, Samsung confirmed that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (256GB) starts at $2,099 in the US and €2,199 in Europe, while the same model launches at just 2.58 million won (around $1,743) in Korea. That’s a 20 percent premium in the US and a steep 44 percent premium in Europe.

The regular Galaxy Z Fold 8 shows an even bigger gap. It’s priced at $1,541 in Korea but jumps to $1,899 in the US and a hefty $2,281 in Europe.

Why Samsung keeps Korea cheaper

Speaking to reporters after the launch, President TM Roh said this isn’t accidental; it’s policy.

He called Korea the “foundation” of the Galaxy brand, crediting local consumers for helping Galaxy grow into a global name. Samsung intends to keep offering the most competitive Galaxy pricing at home, even as memory chip costs squeeze margins.

Rising memory costs are the real culprit

Roh didn’t dodge the elephant in the room: memory prices have surged, and Samsung has had to pass some of that along. He said the company is absorbing what it can through supply chain optimization and closer ties with component partners.

With the Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Fold 8, and Z Flip 8 now forming what Roh calls foldables’ “complete form,” Samsung is aiming for record foldable sales and continued category leadership as competition heats up globally.

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