AI only looks easy and seamless on the user’s end. Where all the user’s queries are computed is a constellation of massive data centers packed with unimaginable numbers of memory chips.
The AI industry’s constant need for more, more, more of them is, as Samsung’s co-CEO predicts, going to drive up prices for other electronics that need the same chips. That’s supply and demand for you, folks. When demand begins to outstrip supply, prices go up for everybody, including the TV manufacturers.
And you can bet they’ll pass along that cost to you.
The AI Domino Effect and How It Affects TVs
There’s a global shortage of memory chips right now. Phones, computers, and AI aren’t the only ones packing them into more and more models. Smart TVs, automobiles, and even appliances such as refrigerators and laundry machines are all using more advanced chips to become smarter.
They all need—and are now competing for—the same memory chips that AI companies are gobbling up to run their data centers, from which the AIs operate.
“As this situation is unprecedented, no company is immune to its impact,” said TM Roh, Samsung Electronics’ co-CEO who oversees the company’s TVs, phones, and home appliances, according to a Reuters exclusive published on January 5, 2026.
“A global shortage of memory chips is a boon to Samsung’s mainstay semiconductor business, but pressures margins on the smartphone business, its second largest revenue source,” said Reuters.
But Samsung also sells more televisions annually than any other TV manufacturer in the world. The squeeze on its mobile phone business also applies across much of its household appliance range, including TVs.
Roh, according to Reuters, added that “the crisis affects not only mobile phones but other consumer electronics, from TVs to home appliances. He did not rule out raising product prices, saying some impact was ‘inevitable’ from a surge in memory chip prices, but Samsung, the world’s number one TV maker, is working with partners on longer term strategies to minimise the impact.”
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