Samsung Electronics expects record quarterly operating profit of about 107.4 trillion won, roughly nine times last year’s figure, as AI data centres drive a global scramble for memory chips and push up prices for consumer devices.
Samsung Electronics has said its operating profit for the July-September quarter is set to climb roughly nine-fold from a year earlier, reaching an estimated 107.4 trillion won (about £61 billion or $80 billion), as the boom in artificial intelligence continues to fuel demand for memory chips.
If confirmed, the result would be the South Korean company’s fourth consecutive quarter of record earnings. The firm, one of the world’s biggest memory chip producers alongside domestic rival SK Hynix and America’s Micron, supplies components that are vital to AI developers such as Nvidia.
Its consumer electronics arm is also expected to have contributed, helped by the foldable phones it released in August. The company, which makes the Galaxy Fold range and the S26 smartphone, will publish its complete third-quarter accounts at the end of October.
Why the preview matters
Several of South Korea’s largest corporations issue preliminary earnings figures ahead of their full reports to keep investors informed. Because these guidance numbers draw on internal company data, they are generally regarded as far more reliable than projections made by outside analysts.
Demand reshapes the chip industry
Worldwide appetite for the processors and memory that power AI systems has lifted the profits and share prices of companies tied to the technology. The surge has also left the market short of semiconductors, boosting sales for manufacturers such as Samsung, whose market value passed $1 trillion earlier this year.
Spending across the sector has climbed sharply. US technology giants including Google, Amazon and Meta have committed more than $650 billion to AI projects this year. In June, South Korea outlined plans for at least $880 billion in projects, led by Samsung and SK Hynix, to expand the country’s chipmaking capacity over the coming years.
Competitors elsewhere in Asia are following suit, with firms in Japan, China and Taiwan also pouring money into new chip plants as AI demand accelerates.
The supply crunch has had a knock-on effect for consumers. Samsung and other chipmakers have raised prices in response to the shortage, which in turn is making products such as smartphones and computers more expensive.
