Tired of boring Galaxy phones? The latest Samsung news is a nightmare

From an outsider looking in, times should be good for Samsung right now. The company just launched the Galaxy S26 series last week, alongside two new pairs of Galaxy Buds. After preorders opened for the S26 phones, Samsung reported record-breaking sales and a 25% increase over S25 preorders.

The champagne should be flowing. TM Roh, Samsung Mobile’s CEO, should be grinning ear-to-ear.

According to the South Korean publication FNN News, Samsung Electronics has entered “emergency management.” This was done due to rising costs across the board, including RAM and semiconductors.

While operating under emergency management, Samsung is reportedly looking to cut costs wherever possible. This includes measures such as booking economy flights for employees instead of business class and asking some workers to take early “voluntary” retirement.

More importantly, it’s reported that Samsung’s Device Experience division, which includes Samsung Mobile, has been ordered to reduce costs by 30%. In other words, Samsung will have a significantly smaller budget for its Galaxy phones going forward, at least until the emergency management order ends.

If you’ve followed the tech world over the last few months, this report probably isn’t surprising. The RAM crisis isn’t anything new. Costs have been rising throughout 2026 for various reasons. These aren’t issues exclusive to Samsung, but the concern is about how Samsung was operating before this emergency management — and how much worse things may get going forward.

While the Galaxy S26 series might be off to a good start sales-wise, the phones themselves are an undeniable indicator of how much Samsung’s mobile division has stalled out.

Months before the S26 family was announced, multiple reports suggested Samsung had big plans for the lineup. The Galaxy S26 would be replaced by a much more capable Galaxy S26 Pro, while the Galaxy S26 Plus would be shelved in favor of a new Galaxy S26 Edge. After years of begging Samsung to do something interesting with the Galaxy S series, this sounded like exactly the revitalization it needed.

However, as we now know, none of that happened. There was no Galaxy S26 Pro or Galaxy S26 Edge. Instead, just as we have for years, we got a base model Galaxy S26, the larger Galaxy S26 Plus, and the flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra.

As has been the case for the last several years, none of these phones were dramatic improvements over their predecessors. Just like the Galaxy S25 series before them, you have to look with a microscope and a very discerning eye to see what’s new. Samsung’s Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is cool, but that’s the only really exciting improvement you’ll find across the phones.

Cameras? Exactly the same on the S26 and S26 Plus compared to their predecessors. The S26 Ultra has slightly larger sensors but otherwise remains unchanged, too. Samsung slightly tweaked the designs across all three phones, but it’s still the same general design language Samsung’s used since the Galaxy S23. There’s no Qi2 magnetic charging on any S26 model, no interesting new AI features, and no notable display quality upgrades. Outside of a new chipset, these are practically the same phones Samsung released last year.

Except, of course, when it comes to pricing.

To recap: the Galaxy S26 series is an extremely iterative update to the S25 series. In many regards, especially with the camera and charging, Samsung is using the same specs that it’s used for years. And in return, you’re asked to pay more than ever.

The Galaxy S26 series isn’t an impressive showing from Samsung. The phones aren’t objectively bad, but they’re also essentially the same three phones Samsung has been selling us for the last several years. Except this time around, they’re more expensive.

None of this is good, and — critically — it all happened before the new emergency management mandate. Now that that’s in place, and with Samsung needing to reduce costs by as much as 30%, it’s safe to say things aren’t going to get better. If anything, they’re bound to get worse.

Fast forward to next year. With RAM and semiconductors likely to get even more expensive, and with Samsung’s reduced budget, what do you think will happen to the Galaxy S27?

We’re certainly not going to see any worthwhile spec upgrades — not unless Samsung wants to dramatically raise prices. The more likely outcome is another year of minimal hardware changes, but even then, Samsung may have to scale back its already tepid annual upgrades to stay on budget. There’s also a very real scenario in which Samsung has to downgrade components like RAM and storage if it doesn’t want to raise prices for a second year in a row.

As mentioned above, Samsung isn’t the only company dealing with knockoff effects of our current global economy. However, it has had the hardest time adjusting. Compare Samsung’s position to Apple’s and some of its latest products — such as the iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, and MacBook Neo. You could argue that Apple has been launching some of its most competitive products in years, whereas Samsung finds itself doing the opposite.

Samsung should be doing as well as Apple is, especially with S26 preorders being as strong as they are. But instead, Samsung is tightening its belt and preparing for the worst.

Whether it’s the Galaxy S27 series, this year’s Z Fold 8/Z Flip 8, or any of Samsung’s many budget phones, it’s safe to say their outlook is pretty dim. And from where we’re at right now, it’s impossible to say when it’ll get any better.