Samsung reportedly raised prices across most of its flagship Galaxy S26 range as a global memory shortage pushed component costs up.

Bloomberg reported prices for the Galaxy S26, S26+ and flagship S26 Ultra increased by $100 each, taking starting figures to $1,000, $1,200, and $1,400.

The high-end 1TB S26 Ultra now starts at $2,000, up $200, Bloomberg wrote.

Demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI infrastructure and data centres has tightened supplies of DRAM and mobile memory chips over the past year, increasing the bill-of-materials for smartphones, PCs and games consoles.

Bloomberg noted Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro range is more costly than previous editions and the vendor recently raised prices for some older models.

It highlighted Google’s Pixel 11 devices are also pricier than their predecessors.

Bloomberg noted the price of Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy S26 FE remains at the $700 set at its launch in August. The fee is $50 higher than the comparable previous model.

The news outlet highlighted Samsung held the prices of its Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8.

Bloomberg also flagged the $1,900 price tag on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as being less than the $1,999 price Apple plans to charge for its iPhone Duo, which is scheduled to launch on 23 October.

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Huawei unveiled its Mate 90 smartphone series with a spotlight on its latest in-house chip architecture, amid continued US curbs on advanced semiconductor shipments.

The Mate 90 range comprises four models running on Huawei’s HarmonyOS 7, which the company said supports more than 450,000 apps and services. Pricing starts at CNY5,999 ($895) for the base Mate 90, with the top end Mate 90 RS Ultimate Design reaching CNY12,999.

The premium models use Huawei’s Kirin 9050 Pro chipset, which the vendor claimed delivers a 31% performance boost compared with the previous generation. The chip also integrates Huawei’s LogicFolding technology, which restructures chip wiring vertically to enable denser processing, shorter critical paths and reduced latency.

Price hikes
In a briefing, Huawei executive director and consumer business chief Richard Yu explained the Chinese vendor developed the technology in response to restrictions on advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

“Our LogicFolding technology is just an approach we adopt to improve our capabilities when our access to certain technology is restricted,” he said.

“Currently, the production capacity for advanced semiconductors in China is indeed limited,” Yu noted, adding semiconductor and smartphone production capacity “remains tight” due to the “sharp price increase for memory components over the past two years”.

To that end, he revealed component price hikes had added more than $200 to the cost of each handset, while Huawei’s margins were coming under pressure. “Moving forward, we will have to increase our prices, too,” he concluded.

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Apple reportedly plans to deepen its smart-home push under new CEO John Ternus, starting with the launch of a long-delayed hub on 13 October.

Bloomberg reported the smart-home hub, code-named J490, will feature a roughly 6-inch square display mounted on a perforated speaker base, with the countertop version featuring an arm that allows users to tilt the display. A dedicated wall-mounted variant is code-named J491. The grey aluminium device runs on USB-C power without internal batteries or physical buttons.

The hub will use built-in microphones and a front-facing FaceTime camera to identify household members by voice or appearance, then display their calendars, messages, notes and contacts.

A virtual white ring light will illuminate users approaching in low light, while an iPhone can provide secondary authentication if facial recognition fails. A visitor mode will hide personal information from guests.

The tech giant expects customers to place multiple displays around the home for intercom calls, music streaming and control of HomeKit accessories. In the kitchen, the hub could also provide voice-guided recipes.

The iPhone maker is also updating its supporting accessories. The HomePod mini and Apple TV set-top box will retain their existing designs but gain faster processors capable of running Siri’s upgraded AI models.

The HomePod mini will also be offered in new pink and green colours. Apple is separately developing a premium 9-inch display mounted on a 360-degree robotic arm, as well as a refreshed full-sized HomePod, for later release.

The news site previously reported in March 2026 that Apple’s smart-home display was postponed because its revamped Siri digital assistant was not ready.

While Apple currently offers the HomePod, HomePod mini and Apple TV streaming box, it has long trailed market leaders Amazon and Google for branded smart-home hardware.

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Apple CEO John Ternus (pictured) is reportedly reshaping the company to speed product development and put engineering back at the centre of its strategy.

Bloomberg reported Ternus, who replaced Tim Cook on 1 September, wants to broaden Apple’s device line-up and strip out organisational layers.

Sources told the news agency Apple could move away from its usual product launch cycles and cut some middle-management roles to bring executives closer to engineering teams.

Ternus was previously the company’s SVP of hardware engineering and is reported to believe Apple needs to launch products faster and take more risks to compete in the AI era, while also seeking new revenue as growth in its services business slows.

Bloomberg reported Apple has begun cutting costs.

It reported the hardware engineering division recently cut managers and around six directors responsible for coordinating product schedules and teams.

Restructuring of teams working on Siri, Vision Pro and AI software engineering is also underway and Apple reportedly reduced staff at the Fitness+ group, which develops audio-only versions of its exercise classes.

Bloomberg noted the new CEO is keen to see how AI could cut development cycles and automate some tasks.

It stated Apple has a large product pipeline for 2027 including AirPods with external cameras, its first pair of smart glasses and a redesigned iPhone on its 20th anniversary.

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