Samsung’s operating profit increased by 933% in the first quarter of 2024 due to the recovery in memory chip prices
Samsung has reported that its operating profit for the first quarter of 2024 increased by 932.8% due to the recovery in memory chip prices, CNBC reports.
Samsung has announced that it generated KRW 71.92 trillion (about $52.3 billion) in consolidated revenue, driven by strong sales of its flagship Galaxy S24 smartphone and higher prices for semiconductor memory cells. Operating profit increased to 6.61 trillion won (about $4.8 billion).
Samsung expects the second quarter of this year to be driven mainly by demand for generative AI, while demand for mobile devices will remain stable.
At the same time, the company expects PC demand to be affected by slow seasonality, which could lead to customers adjusting inventories ahead of new product launches in the second half of 2024.
Analyst firm Citi predicts that SSDs will be the next bottleneck in AI training, meaning that Samsung will be one of the key beneficiaries of the demand for SSDs to serve AI.
The company expects profitability in the second quarter to decline slightly compared to the first and third quarters.
To meet the demand for AI, Samsung said that it started mass production of HBM3E 8H and V9 NAND in April. In the second quarter, it plans to mass-produce HBM3E 12H and 32GB 128GB DDR5 memory based on 1 billion nanometers.
The company hopes that the operating environment will remain positive in the second half of the year due to demand from AI companies.