After Samsung officially announced the launch price and pre-order information for the Galaxy S26 series in Taiwan, Chen Chi-meng, General Manager of Samsung Taiwan's Mobile Communications Business Division, pointed out in a post-event interview that this year has brought many challenges for Samsung. In addition to the cost pressure from the memory and semiconductor supply chain, external competitors, including Apple, are also closing in.
Combating Rising Memory Prices: Offsetting Cost Pressures with "Sincerity"
Chen Chi-meng admitted that this year, due to fluctuations in memory chip prices and exchange rates, global pricing strategies have indeed faced significant pressure. Although reports indicate that some regions overseas have experienced substantial price increases, Taiwan is striving to keep the increase between NT$1000 and NT$3000, which is relatively "affordable" compared to the global market.
Regarding consumers' concerns about "cost-effectiveness," Chen Qimeng specifically mentioned the "small-to-large" plan (free storage upgrade) offered during the pre-order period, which is essentially equivalent to a NT$6000 discount. Facing the potential threat from new phones entering the market soon, Samsung's response is to offer more flexible pricing subsidies and distribution channels, making consumers feel more "sincere" about the purchase price. This also addresses Apple's current strategy of offering hardware upgrades without changing prices.iPhone 17eChen Qimeng also revealed that the upcoming mid-range Galaxy A series will also demonstrate "sincerity" to consumers.
Sales target: Aim for double-digit growth, with S26 Ultra pre-orders accounting for 8% of total sales.
Despite the fact that the overall market conditions have led Samsung to predict that total mobile phone sales may decline by about 5%, Chen Qimeng remains confident in the Galaxy S26 series, aiming to achieve double-digit growth in both sales revenue and sales volume.
Meanwhile, Chen Chi-meng also revealed that the current expectation is that Taiwanese consumers will pre-order the Galaxy S26 Ultra model by up to 8%, which is in line with the general trend of Taiwanese consumers focusing on high-end flagship specifications. In addition, it is also related to the fact that telecom operators are promoting high 5G tariffs and that most of their subsidy programs are concentrated on flagship models.
The "N-1" strategy continues: meeting diverse budget needs.
Samsung anticipates that its "N-1" market strategy, which involves retaining the sales model of the previous generation, will perform even better this year. The Galaxy S25 series, in particular, performed better than in previous years around the Lunar New Year, indicating that there is still a group of users in the market who are price-sensitive but seek a flagship experience. Therefore, Samsung will continue to operate the "N-1" market sales strategy until the end of the year, forming a more complete product line layout with the Galaxy S26 series.
On the other hand, Chen Qimeng expects that the launch of the new phone will attract more users of the "N-2" or even "N-3" models, and attract these users to upgrade their phones through the newly added features.
eSIM will become standard equipment, and marketing strategies for AI and "concert-themed devices" will operate in parallel.
Regarding technical specifications and marketing priorities, Chen Qimeng also explained that with all Galaxy S26 series sold in Taiwan now supporting eSIM functionality, all Samsung models imported to Taiwan will also support eSIM functionality, making it easier for users to use local mobile service plans when traveling abroad, or to use different network plans in Taiwan.
Regarding product marketing and promotion strategies, Chen Qimeng revealed that they will continue to focus on promoting the product image of "concert magic camera", but will also gradually integrate more AI application scenarios. For example, the launch event in Taiwan this time focused on concert shooting, and added AI to eliminate video noise, enhance image shooting, and even create personal expression stickers through AI.
Regarding competitors: We welcome Honor to join us, and we have even more confidence in the Z series foldable phones.
Facing rumors that HONOR is about to enter the Taiwan market and that Apple may launch a foldable phone in the second half of the year, Chen Qimeng appeared quite calm, believing that competition in the market is a good thing, as it can help expand the market together.
Regarding the news that Apple is expected to launch a foldable phone in the second half of this year, Chen Qimeng said that Samsung has a complete upstream and downstream supply chain and accumulated foldable technology. He also revealed that in Taiwan last year, nearly 4% of the conversion rate of the Galaxy Z series came from "users of other brands switching", proving that Samsung's foldable phone has a strong appeal to high-end users.
