SEOUL - Samsung Electronics is expected to post a 13-fold increase in second-quarter profit from a year earlier as demand for artificial intelligence technology fuels a rebound in memory chip prices.
That amount would be Samsung's highest profit since the third quarter of 2022. It compares with an operating profit of 670 billion won in second quarter of last year.Performance at the tech giant's key semiconductor division likely continued to improve its second consecutive quarterly profit, as memory chip prices keep rising from a mid-2022 to end-2023 trough that was caused by weak post-pandemic demand for gadgets that use the chips.
During the second quarter, memory chip prices jumped by about 13% to 18% versus the previous quarter for DRAM chips used in tech devices and 15% to 20% for NAND Flash chips used for data storage, according to data provider TrendForce. Its mobile business likely saw its Q2 operating profit shrink versus last year despite shipping a similar number of smartphones, analysts said, due to steeper parts' costs and higher marketing and development costs for AI services.