Samsung Electronics announced on Friday a remarkable surge in its first-quarter operating profit, propelled by a resurgence in demand for memory chips, surpassing market projections. The tech giant anticipates an operating profit of 6.6 trillion won ($4.9 billion) for the first quarter, representing an astounding 931.3 percent increase compared to the same period last year, as stated in a regulatory filing.
This figure exceeded market expectations by 20.5 percent, according to data from Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency. Total sales for the January-March period climbed by 11.4 percent to 71 trillion won, marking a significant milestone as it breached the 70 trillion-won threshold for quarterly revenue for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2022. However, specific estimates for net income were not provided in the filing.
In contrast, Samsung Electronics reported a decline in sales for the full year 2023, amounting to 258.93 trillion won, a 14.3 percent decrease from the previous year. The company's annual operating profit plummeted by 84.9 percent year-on-year to 6.56 trillion won, while net profit fell by 72.2 percent to 15.48 trillion won.
Although detailed performance breakdowns of its key business divisions were not disclosed, industry analysts anticipate a turnaround in profitability for its semiconductor unit, responsible for its lucrative chip business, after five consecutive quarters of losses.
Aligned with its strategic direction, Samsung Electronics has actively pursued the advancement of fifth-generation HBM chips, boasting 12 layers of DRAM chips with a record-breaking capacity of 36 gigabytes. HBM chips, crucial components for AI computing, have garnered increasing global attention, particularly with the proliferation of applications such as generative AI, exemplified by models like ChatGPT.
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