Samsung Electronics expects record quarterly profit due to AI boom
SEOUL, April 7, 2026 (BSS/AFP) – Tech giant Samsung Electronics on Tuesday estimated its first-quarter profit soared 755% annually to a record 57.2 trillion won ($37.9 billion), helped by strong sales of chips essential to artificial intelligence.
The South Korean government has pledged to become one of the world’s three largest AI powers, along with the United States and China.
Samsung has emerged as a major player alongside fellow Korean company SK Hynix in supplying high-performance chips in response to demand from companies competing to keep up with the rapidly evolving AI industry.
The company also said in a regulatory filing that sales for the three months to the end of March are expected to reach 133 trillion won ($88 billion), up 68% from a year earlier.
This strong outlook comes despite the risks to the global semiconductor supply chain if the Middle East war drags on.
South Korea’s ruling party lawmaker told reporters last month that company officials such as Samsung have expressed concern about the potential for disruption to chip production if some key supply chain raw materials, such as helium, are no longer available from the Middle East.
“Samsung Electronics achieved its best performance ever due to increased sales and profits in its Device Solutions (DS) division with a focus on memory,” a Samsung spokesperson said.
He said the company’s competitiveness in consumer electronics and smartphones was contributing to the boost in profits.
South Korea’s Yonhap News reported, citing its data company, that operating profit increased more than eight times from 6.69 trillion won in the same period last year and exceeded average expectations by 36.7%.
Daishin Securities analyst Ryu Hyung-geun told AFP that Samsung expected “even better numbers” in the coming months as demand for memory chips increases.
“We expect margins to further improve over the remainder of this year as we continue to see memory chip prices rise,” he said.
～Price hike～
Samsung has received large orders for high-bandwidth memory from major technology companies. High-bandwidth memory is a type of chip used in data centers and AI “accelerators” that helps perform demanding tasks and calculations.
This is also raising the price of less flashy chips used in consumer electronics, threatening to increase the prices of mobile phones, laptops and other devices around the world.
Riding the AI boom, Samsung’s stock price has risen more than 240% over the past year.
Samsung did not provide a breakdown of revenue for individual divisions such as chip and mobile divisions.
Taipei-based research firm TrendForce predicts that memory chip industry revenue will reach a global peak in 2027, reaching more than $840 billion.
Samsung has already earmarked billions of dollars to expand its chip production facilities and has pledged to continue spending to “move to advanced manufacturing processes and upgrade existing production lines to meet growing demand.”
Experts say the move will help Samsung seize an opportunity in the growing competition for chips essential to AI infrastructure.
Samsung is scheduled to release its final quarterly financial report at the end of April.
