Samsung’s biggest challenge in 2026 is maintaining the strong momentum of growth it had in 2025.
We saw in the past year that if Samsung stayed focused on what it does best, kept its head down while still paying attention to competition, it could do wonders. It truly made the biggest comeback last year, but now it’s time to show the world how it really is the best Android manufacturer.
Focus on hardware, and focus the hardware
While the company had some of the best launches in 2025, I still think it struggled with being organized.
Launching the S25 Edge was purely to compete with Apple, but no one wants a thin phone that compromises performance. Reports surfaced that due to poor sales, the company began reducing production and started heavily discounting the phone.
And now reports indicate that the company has scrapped plans for the S26 Edge, and a senior Samsung executive reportedly told a South Korean publication that the company wasn’t “sure if the slim line will ever return, but as of now, it seems unlikely. It’s practically gone.”
I think in 2026, Samsung needs to focus on keeping a tight lineup of phones it knows will deliver the same success it saw in 2025. Launching its flagship S26 lineup, followed by the company’s next generation of foldables (Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8), and its more affordable A-series, should be the standard.
But even with this standard lineup of phones, we’re seeing reports that Samsung might only stick with the Galaxy S26 base, Plus, and Ultra models, dropping the edge variant and removing the “Pro” label for the base to keep the lineup traditional.
This move seems to make sense because if it were to launch the base model with a “Pro” suffix, it would have to bring Pro-level features to the phone. However, it still seems like the company is confusing customers.
I think back to other random models launched last year, like the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE. Why? What was the point of launching this variant? Senior Editor, Andrew Myrick, writes in his hands-on, “there’s really not all that much to cover here.”
“The Flip 7 FE is basically the Galaxy Z Flip 6 with a lower price and a different processor,” he writes.
Android Central’s contributor Nirave Gondhia writes in his review that while the phone is solid, it was designed for price-conscious consumers and offers a pared-down version of the Flip 6. But the Flip 6 is still available at a discounted price at all the same retailers where the Flip 7 FE is available.
I get it, sometimes phone launches happen to test the audience’s waters. But some of these launches seem so irrelevant and a waste of time.
Strengthen relationship with Google
If Samsung sticks to its regular lineup of phones and focuses on developing high-quality hardware, 2026 will be an incredible year for it.
Where Samsung succeeded last year was letting Google handle the software, while it focused on hardware. This enabled the company to deliver one of the best AI implementations in its flagship, the Galaxy S25 series.
Google and Samsung are like peanut butter and jelly, and Samsung always needs to remember that maintaining that strong relationship with Google will help it retain its rank as the number one Android manufacturer.
2026: Convince me on the TriFold and Galaxy XR
Samsung’s biggest challenge in 2026 is going to be convincing me and the public that we need the Galaxy Z TriFold and the Galaxy XR headset. Because right now, the trifold is a gimmick device, and the XR has no use case scenarios.
I need Samsung to tell me why a trifold is the future of smartphones, when I’m still not convinced about foldable devices to begin with. Senior Editor, Harish Jonnalagadda, writes that the TriFold is “a bold new vision for Samsung, and it’s evident the brand is testing the waters with this device.”
But with a price tag likely well over $2,000, I want to know what the future of this form factor looks like.
I also want to know how Samsung plans to convince users to buy its Galaxy XR headset, because I still don’t see what the real use case is for this device.
Here are my questions for you, Samsung: What are you going to do to improve the user experience of the XR device? Are we going to add more apps? What are all the things people will be able to do with the device?
There are still many unknowns about this device, and I encourage Samsung to make it more accessible and common.
However, overall, I think 2026 is going to be a fantastic year for Samsung, so long as it sticks to its goals, focuses on hardware, and pushes the narrative on new devices.
