Samsung unveils its 2026 foldable lineup at a London showcase on Wednesday, days after confirming cuts and relocations affecting 839 U.S. jobs in a headquarters shift to Texas.
Key Points:
- Samsung debuted three new foldable phones and refreshed Galaxy watches at its London Unpacked event.
- The company confirmed 839 affected U.S. roles while moving its consumer electronics headquarters from New Jersey to Texas.
- Chip profit is climbing on AI demand as the mobile division braces for its first projected loss.
Foldable Phones Anchor London Unpacked
The company held its Unpacked keynote in London, its first summer launch in the U.K. capital, with the stream opening at 9 a.m. Eastern. Three foldables led the show: the wider Galaxy Z Fold 8, the taller Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and the clamshell Galaxy Z Flip 8. New Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 models joined them, the Ultra 2 pushing display brightness far higher, alongside a teaser for Galaxy Glasses built with Google.
Samsung reshuffled its naming this year, handing the Ultra label to the tall successor of last year's Fold 7 while a wider, passport-shaped model took the plain Fold 8 name. It paired the redesign with new Flex Titanium display tech that the company says flattens the crease long dogging folding screens, and pre-event reports put the base phone near $1,900 and the Ultra close to $2,100.
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Job Cuts Trail Record Chip Profit
The London fanfare met a harder backdrop at home, where Samsung has been quietly thinning its U.S. ranks. The company disclosed that 739 roles at its Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, office were hit by the relocation of Samsung Electronics America to Plano, Texas, and about 100 more workers lost their jobs at the existing Plano site. The unit had opened those New Jersey offices with fanfare less than a year earlier.
Most affected New Jersey staff received relocation offers, though a Jun. 30 notice described an enterprise-wide reduction in force with a significant number of impacts, and the cuts fell hardest on sales and marketing. The timing stings, because the chip unit flags a 19-fold jump in quarterly profit while the mobile division braces for its first-ever loss.
Texas Bet Signals Deeper Realignment
The split screen shows a company steering resources toward silicon and away from consumer gadgets. Samsung is relocating its U.S. consumer base to a state that already hosts its chip plants and a Plano mobile hub, drawn by lower taxes and a growing AI cluster. It has also pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in new chip plants over the coming years.
The retreat fits a wider industry pattern. Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta have all trimmed staff while pouring money into AI infrastructure, and Samsung now joins Tesla and Oracle in anchoring more operations in Texas, even as workers brace for further consolidation across its appliance, television, and mobile lines.
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