Samsung finds a way to avoid price hikes for its mid-range phones

Every consumer technology brand is currently dealing with sharply rising memory chip prices, and Samsung is no exception. Despite being the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer, the company is still affected by the ongoing price hikes.

Higher memory costs increase smartphone manufacturing expenses, which typically leads to consumers paying higher prices. However, Samsung appears to have found a way to avoid raising prices for some of its mid-range phones.

According to a report from BusinessKorea, Samsung is sourcing OLED panels for the Galaxy A57 from the Chinese display maker China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT). CSOT is known for offering OLED panels at significantly lower prices than Samsung Display, Samsung’s own display manufacturing arm. Since Samsung is paying more for memory chips than it did last year, it can offset those costs by using more affordable OLED panels.

Sales of Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy phones have been weak in price-sensitive markets such as India, Latin America, and Southeast Asia in 2025. Globally, Samsung also slipped to second place in smartphone sales behind Apple. As a result, the company is aiming to keep the Galaxy A57 priced similarly to the Galaxy A56.

Chinese smartphone brands have less control over the memory chip supply chain. This could force them to increase smartphone prices. This will ofer Samsung an opportunity to improve sales of its Galaxy A series and gain market share.

Earlier today, key specifications of the Galaxy A57 were leaked. It has a 6.67-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50MP primary camera (with OIS), a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 12MP front-facing camera. It is powered by the Exynos 1680 processor and comes with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of internal storage.

Other features of the Galaxy A57 include a microSD card slot, 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, a USB Type-C port, a 5,000mAh battery, and support for 45W fast charging.