According to Wccftech, a research firm has sharply revised its profit forecast for Samsung, now estimating the company’s 2026 operating profit could reach 107.612 trillion won, or roughly $73 billion. That’s a significant jump from a previous estimate of $62-$69 billion. The primary driver is the ongoing surge in prices for DRAM and NAND memory chips. Rival SK hynix is also projected to see massive profits of around $63.8 billion for the same period. This windfall for memory giants comes at a direct cost to the rest of the tech industry, with Counterpoint Research estimating smartphone BoM costs could rise up to 25%, forcing a 2.6% shipment decline in 2026. Device makers are already reacting, with plans to ship entry-level phones with just 4GB RAM and notebooks standardizing on 8GB.
The Industry Squeeze
Here’s the thing: when Samsung and SK hynix are smiling, pretty much everyone else is miserable. The report outlines a domino effect that’s brutal. Smartphone makers are getting crushed, PC OEMs like Acer and Dell are planning “extensive price hikes,” and even NVIDIA is reportedly cutting production of its RTX 5000 GPUs because of the DRAM shortage. We’re talking about a fundamental component cost shock rippling through every product that needs memory—which is, well, everything. The idea of high-end phones bringing back microSD slots isn’t a consumer-friendly feature revival; it’s a desperate workaround because onboard storage is getting too expensive. It’s a classic squeeze play, and the memory duopoly holds all the leverage.
Skepticism And The Cycle
Now, a forecast for 2026 profits is just that—a forecast. The memory market is notoriously cyclical. We’ve been here before: prices soar, profits boom, then massive overcapacity gets built, leading to a glut and a price collapse. Companies frantically adjusting specs and prices today will eventually push back, find alternatives, or simply see demand evaporate. Could this peak be higher and last longer? Maybe. But betting against the historical boom-bust pattern of semiconductors is a risky game. I think the real question is how much permanent damage is done to the ecosystem before the cycle turns. When every laptop is saddled with a barely-adequate 8GB of non-upgradeable RAM for years, that resets consumer expectations in a bad way.
The Broader Impact
So what does this mean beyond higher prices for phones and laptops? It creates weird incentives across tech. For industrial and embedded systems, where reliability and long-term supply are critical, this kind of volatility is a nightmare. It forces manufacturers to scramble for secure component supplies and can delay product cycles significantly. In these sectors, having a stable, dependable hardware partner isn’t just nice, it’s essential for business continuity. This is where specialists who understand these pressures, like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, become crucial. They navigate these component storms so their clients don’t have to. Basically, while consumers feel the pinch at checkout, businesses are dealing with a massive planning and logistics headache that could stifle innovation in other tech segments. The memory makers’ gain is truly the entire industry’s very expensive pain.
