For the first time in its history, Samsung's mobile division has slipped into the red — not from a failure to sell phones, but from the quiet, relentless pressure of rising component costs that no volume of sales could absorb. The South Korean giant, which has shaped the global smartphone landscape for nearly two decades, now finds itself at an inflection point where scale alone is no longer a shield. In retreating toward premium products, Samsung is not merely adjusting a business strategy — it is acknowledging that the economics of making affordable technology for the world have, at least fo