Samsung Electronics has reported a substantial increase in operating profit for the most recent quarter, citing the expansion of artificial intelligence technologies as a key driver in the recovery of computer memory chip markets. The South Korean tech giant announced that its operating profit for the January to March quarter surged to 6.6 trillion won ($4.8 billion), marking a tenfold increase from the 640 billion won ($465 million) it earned during the same period last year.
Revenue also saw a robust growth of nearly 13% to 71.9 trillion won ($52 billion), driven by higher prices for memory chips and strong sales of its flagship Galaxy S24 smartphones. The company's semiconductor business contributed 1.91 trillion won ($1.38 billion) in operating profit, marking its first quarterly profit since the fourth quarter of 2022. This comes as the chip market continues to recover from a cyclical slump deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic and global trade tensions.
Samsung expects the memory chip market to remain strong in the coming months, driven by the expansion of generative AI technologies, which is increasing the demand for both conventional chips used in servers and advanced chips designed to process AI, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM). To meet the rising demand for AI chips, Samsung has announced the commencement of mass production of its latest HBM chips, the 8-layer HBM3E, this month, with plans to start producing the 12-layer version of the chips during the second quarter.