Samsung's upcoming Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57 will see about 15% to 20% price increases compared to their predecessors, marking a significant shift in the mid-range smartphone market. The Galaxy A37 is listed to cost €439 and €539 for the 6GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB models, respectively, while the Galaxy A57 is priced at €539 for the 8GB/128GB model and €609 for the 8GB/256GB variant. These numbers reveal more than just product pricing; they expose a fundamental realignment in the semiconductor industry where artificial intelligence infrastructure is now consuming resources once reserved for consumer devices.
The phones themselves remain largely unchanged from their predecessors. The Galaxy A37 and the Galaxy A57 do not look very different from their predecessors, both featuring 6.7-inch Super AMOLED+ displays with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Yet consumers will pay considerably more. The disconnect between minimal feature upgrades and substantial price increases typically triggers resistance, but in this case, the culprit lies upstream in the supply chain rather than within Samsung's boardroom.
The real driver is a memory crisis. Memory prices are rising for consumer products because major manufacturers are instead ramping up production for AI data centres as artificial intelligence companies boom. For low-end smartphones priced below $200, the bill of materials cost has increased 20% to 30% since the beginning of the year. Mid-range devices like Samsung's A-series phones fall into the more vulnerable category, where such cost increases cannot be easily absorbed without passing them to consumers.
This represents a strategic retreat by memory manufacturers. Memory and storage company Micron announced it is exiting the consumer memory business, citing a "surge in demand" coming from "AI-driven growth" in data centres. The calculus is straightforward: data centre memory commands higher margins than smartphone memory, and the demand appears durable. When a major supplier abandons consumer products entirely, remaining manufacturers face unprecedented competition for limited capacity, forcing prices upward across the entire smartphone ecosystem.
The burden falls disproportionately on budget and mid-range device makers. Apple and Samsung are best positioned to weather the next few quarters, but it will be tough for others that don't have as much wiggle room to manage market share versus profit margins. This asymmetry raises a legitimate concern about market structure. As smaller competitors struggle to absorb costs and maintain pricing competitiveness, consolidation accelerates, reducing choice precisely when consumers need it most.
Consumer behaviour is shifting in response to rising costs. People are keeping their phones for a longer time; on average, Android users now trade in their phones after almost four years, which clearly shows that users are waiting longer before buying a new phone. When mid-range options become less affordable, consumers either delay upgrades entirely or trade down to budget devices with genuine compromises in durability and capability. Neither outcome serves the consumer interest well.
The Samsung Galaxy A37 and A57 price increases are not aberrations; they are symptoms of a deeper economic shift. The semiconductor industry has decided that consumer electronics are now secondary priorities. Until memory production capacity adjusts or AI infrastructure demand moderates, phone makers will continue passing supply chain pressures directly to shoppers. For consumers watching prices climb on largely unchanged hardware, that reality proves far less palatable than any incremental camera or processor improvement.