12.5 million smartphone sales are expected in Türkiye

Samsung Türkiye Vice President Murat Azdemir participated in the Gündem Technology program on BloombergHT and made statements about the global smartphone and tablet market.

"A different outlook emerged in the global technology markets in the first half of 2026. While the contraction in the smartphone and tablet markets became evident in the second quarter, the wearable device market continued to grow. This year, it is expected that 1 billion smartphones will be sold globally and 100 million tablets will be sold. The increase in semiconductor costs puts pressure on manufacturers. While processor and screen costs used to be high, chip costs are now the highest item," he said.

The global smartphone market shrank by 7.4 percent in the second quarter.

Azdemir said, "The global smartphone market shrank by 2.9 percent annually in the first quarter and by 7.4 percent in the second quarter. As Samsung, we continued our strong performance in this period. We increased our market share from 21.2 percent in the first quarter to 22.7 percent in the second quarter. While the tablet market shipped 35.4 million units with an annual growth of 2.4 percent in the first quarter, the market shrank by 12.3 percent in the second quarter, falling to 33.6 million units. In this change, "We see the impact of increasing memory costs and supply conditions. In general, although there is pressure on the market in terms of quantity, we see that consumers are turning to products that offer higher added value and stand out with artificial intelligence capabilities and ecosystem experience," he said.

This year, 7 percent growth is expected in the smartphone market in Türkiye.

Samsung TR. Regarding smartphone sales in Türkiye, Vice President Azdemir said, "We expect a growth of approximately 7 percent in the Turkish smartphone market and 10 percent in the tablet market in 2026. However, we think that the total market growth has the potential to reach double-digit figures with the impact of developments such as the widespread use of 5G, increased use of artificial intelligence and consumers turning to tablets in line with different needs. 5G in particular will create a significant transformation. Today, less than 30 percent of the smartphones used in Türkiye are 5G supported. This means that in the coming period, "It offers significant potential in terms of device renewal and transition to new technologies," he said.

Regarding the price expectations in consumer electronics, Azdemir said, "We expect the cost pressure to continue for a while in the current market conditions. We see price increases of 20-25 percent in dollar terms compared to last year for products with the same technical features. However, it would not be correct to directly reflect this rate to the final sales prices in Türkiye. Exchange rate, logistics expenses, taxes, local costs and competitive conditions also affect the final price. Therefore, it is not possible to give an exact rate about the price changes awaiting the consumer today."

Samsung's R&D budget reached 45 billion dollars.

Stating that they have an R&D budget of 45 billion dollars this year, Murat Azdemir said, "Samsung is one of the technology companies that invested the most in R&D globally. We spent approximately 27 billion dollars in R&D in 2025, and this was one of the highest levels in Samsung history. This year, our annual R&D investments will reach 45 billion dollars. We are investing in artificial intelligence security layers and foldable devices with the production of smart devices, semiconductor technologies, artificial intelligence solutions and integration into devices." made the statement.