Samsung Electronics is making record money from the artificial intelligence boom, but the same surge in memory chip prices is squeezing its smartphone and consumer electronics businesses, a development that could put further pressure on Galaxy prices in Nigeria.
Samsung on Thursday, October 8, 2026, estimated third-quarter operating profit at a record ₩107.4 trillion ($80.2 billion), up 782.5% from a year earlier, as strong demand for semiconductors used in AI infrastructure pushed memory earnings sharply higher.
The company estimated third-quarter revenue at ₩195 trillion, up 126.6% year-on-year. If confirmed, the result would mark the first time a South Korean company has recorded more than ₩100 trillion in quarterly operating profit. Samsung is due to release its full third-quarter results, including the breakdown by business division, on October 29.
The semiconductor business is expected to have generated the bulk of the profit, with surging prices for conventional DRAM and NAND memory, alongside growing demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI systems, driving the boom. Analysts cited by The Korea Times estimated that Samsung’s memory business alone generated about ₩110 trillion in operating profit, although that figure is not yet part of Samsung’s official results.
But Samsung’s record chip earnings are creating a problem elsewhere in the company.
Its Device Experience (DX) division, which includes smartphones, televisions and home appliances, is estimated to have remained in the red for a second consecutive quarter as higher component costs squeezed margins. Seoul Economic Daily reported that analysts expect the division’s third-quarter operating loss to have exceeded ₩1 trillion. Yonhap reported estimates that Samsung’s mobile and network businesses alone lost more than ₩1.5 trillion, while its visual display and digital appliances businesses may have lost about ₩500 billion.
The pressure is particularly significant for Samsung’s mobile business because memory chips are a major component of smartphones. As AI companies absorb more memory capacity, conventional DRAM prices have also risen, increasing costs for devices ranging from smartphones to computers.
Samsung has already started passing some of that pressure to consumers.
On October 1, the company raised prices for its Galaxy S26 lineup in South Korea, with the base model increasing by ₩149,600 to ₩1.4036 million. The S26 Ultra 1TB received a ₩270,000 increase to ₩2.8215 million. The increases were attributed to rising memory chip prices.
That matters for Nigeria because the country remains heavily dependent on imported smartphones. Omdia analyst Manish Pravinkumar told TechCabal in June that Nigerian smartphone prices could face another 15% to 30% upward adjustment through the remainder of 2026 as component and memory costs rise.
The forecast does not mean every Samsung model in Nigeria will automatically rise by 15% or 30%. Exchange rates, existing inventory, retailer margins and Samsung’s local pricing strategy will influence what Nigerian consumers ultimately pay.
However, Samsung’s latest results show why the pressure could persist. The company is benefiting enormously from expensive memory chips on the semiconductor side while paying more for those same components on the consumer side.
For Nigerian Galaxy buyers, therefore, Samsung’s historic profit may not translate into cheaper phones. If the global memory squeeze continues, more of the higher production cost could eventually be passed on to consumers through higher prices for new Galaxy devices.
