The electronics division of the industrial conglomerate reports a billion-dollar profit.
Seoul The high demand for memory chips has brought the South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics the highest operating profit at the start of the year since 2018. The operating result climbed by 50 percent to 14.1 trillion won (equivalent to 10.6 billion euros) in the first quarter, the world’s largest memory chip provider announced on Thursday, citing preliminary figures.
That was more than analysts expected. The smartphone business also contributed to the good result, as well as problems at a semiconductor factory owned by competitors Kioxia from Japan and the US company Western Digital.
Samsung is not only the world’s largest memory chip supplier but also smartphone primus ahead of rivals such as Apple and Xiaomi and sells household appliances and other electronics. The chip division, which competes with TSMC, contributes about half of the profit. According to analysts, Samsung was able to make up for the memory chip prices that fell in the first quarter due to high demand from data centers, more cautious investments and a limited expansion of capacities.
Samsung Electronics will release final figures on April 28 – again on the same day as iPhone provider Apple. Investors then hope for an insight into the company’s acquisition plans and an outlook on the further chip business.
