Samsung's UFS 5.0 storage likely skipped in Galaxy S27 Ultra launch

Samsung announced its new UFS 5.0 flash storage, claiming sequential read speeds up to 10.8 GB/s, write speeds up to 9.5 GB/s and about 40 % better energy efficiency than UFS 4.1. The smaller 7.5 × 13 × 0.9 mm package is aimed at AI‑focused smartphones that need fast local processing of large language models and other generative‑AI workloads.

Despite the breakthrough, the upcoming Galaxy S27 Ultra is expected to retain the older UFS 4.0 standard. Samsung’s mobile division is under financial pressure, facing its first net‑loss risk as memory‑chip costs have surged with global AI demand. Integrating the costlier UFS 5.0 would either compress margins or raise the phone’s price, potentially hurting sales. Samsung may also sell the new memory to other Android makers first, following a pattern of externalizing its latest components before internal adoption.