Samsung’s cheapest phones may soon get harder to find, and possibly more expensive when you do find them. A new report from South Korea says the company is cutting production of its Galaxy A lineup by about a fifth this quarter, a move that would ripple far beyond Samsung’s own sales charts.
The Cut Hits Samsung’s Volume Engine
According to GSMArena, which cited a report from Korean outlet ETNews, Samsung has told its supply chain it will make about 20 percent fewer Galaxy A phones in the fourth quarter of 2026 than it originally planned. Component orders for the quarter are down by a similar amount, which works out to roughly 10 million fewer units over the full year. Another source cited in the report says the cuts will not stop there, with at least 10 percent fewer Galaxy A devices planned for next year as well.
Samsung has not confirmed the report, so these figures should be treated as reported, not official. But the scale matters because the A series is not a side business. It accounts for about 70 percent of Samsung’s smartphone shipments, including models such as the Galaxy A57, Galaxy A37, and Galaxy A17 5G. Samsung ships 230 to 240 million phones a year and has been trading the global top spot with Apple, which came out on top in 2025.
Memory Prices Are Eating the Budget Phone
The driver is cost, not demand. Memory prices have risen so sharply that memory now makes up more than half of the total cost of some budget phones, according to the report. Materials for circuit boards and capacitors are also being prioritized for AI chips, which are far more lucrative. Samsung is reportedly responding by shifting parts and materials toward its more profitable Galaxy S and Galaxy Z flagships, where it has more room to absorb higher costs.
That shift comes as Samsung’s mobile division is reportedly facing its first-ever annual loss, and after price increases that have not been enough to offset component inflation. As Digital Trends notes, an industry insider warns that lower production may lead to higher prices, and that new phones could launch with downgraded displays or cameras while still costing more than their predecessors. The pattern is already visible elsewhere: Nothing recently canceled its next CMF phone after deciding the existing $279 model would cost $320 to $370 today with identical specifications.
Why This Matters
For buyers, the practical consequence is timing. If you are already eyeing a Galaxy A phone for the holidays, waiting for a deep discount may backfire: thinner stock usually means weaker deals, not better ones. Shoppers should also compare the fine print on next year’s models rather than assuming a familiar model name means identical hardware, since a cheaper screen or camera is exactly how manufacturers quietly absorb a component squeeze.
For the market, the stakes are the crown itself. Counterpoint predicted in August that Samsung would beat Apple this year by just 0.1 percentage points. Cutting volume on the lineup that delivers 70 percent of shipments could easily hand Apple the top spot, even though Apple competes mostly at the premium end. In other words, a memory shortage driven by the AI boom is now deciding a smartphone rivalry that the phones themselves did not start, and budget buyers are the ones paying for it first.
Meanwhile in Mobiles: the same memory squeeze already pushed up another midrange price in Pixel 10a Price Jumps to $599 as Memory Shortage Bites, and Samsung’s flagships are not immune either, as shown in Galaxy S26 Price Hike of $100 Hits US Buyers.
