[News] Samsung Electronics Apologizes after Disappointing Q3 Profit Amid AI Chip Struggles

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Samsung reported its third-quarter earnings today, and according to The Korea Economic Daily, the company’s operating profit was initially expected to exceed 10 trillion won, but the actual performance fell short of that target.

Reuters also reported that Samsung Electronics warned its third-quarter profit would fall short of market expectations, issuing an apology for the disappointing performance. The tech giant has been lagging behind its rivals in supplying high-end chips to Nvidia amid the booming AI market.

The Korea Economic Daily noted that Samsung’s operating profit for the third quarter reached 9.1 trillion won, a 274.5% increase from the same period last year. However, this figure still fell significantly short of the expected 10 trillion won. Sales for the quarter amounted to 79 trillion won, up 17.2% year-on-year. The Device Solutions (DS) division, responsible for semiconductor operations, saw its performance decline compared to the previous quarter due to one-off costs, including incentive provisions.

Although demand for memory chips such as servers and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) remained stable, factors like inventory adjustments by mobile clients and increased supply of legacy products from Chinese memory manufacturers negatively impacted performance, exacerbated by one-time costs and exchange rate effects. Additionally, the weaker-than-expected recovery in demand for Samsung’s flagship conventional DRAM products, particularly due to sluggish smartphone and PC markets, further hindered its results.

In the same report by The Korea Economic Daily, it was noted that in the HBM sector, Samsung has yet to make significant progress. The commercialization of its fifth-generation HBM, HBM3E, has been delayed, with the product still undergoing quality tests by NVIDIA. However, the Device Experience (DX) division saw improved performance due to strong flagship smartphone sales, and Samsung Display benefited from new product launches by key customers.

The Korea Economic Daily highlighted that analysts had forecast Samsung’s third-quarter operating profit to surpass 10 trillion won, with sales expected to reach around 81 trillion won, but both figures missed these projections.

Before Samsung’s earnings announcement, The Korea Times had reported that the market expected SK Hynix to see a substantial increase in operating profit driven by strong HBM demand, potentially outpacing Samsung’s semiconductor division.

Regarding Samsung’s HBM3E validation, TrendForce noted in a September press release that while Samsung entered the HBM3E market later, the company recently completed validation and has begun shipping its HBM3E 8Hi units. According to TrendForce’s latest research, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron submitted their first HBM3E 12Hi samples in the first half and third quarter of 2024, with ongoing validation processes. SK Hynix and Micron are progressing faster and are expected to complete validation by the end of this year.

(Photo credit: Samsung)