SEOUL, January 02 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics will kick off the tech sector’s preliminary fourth-quarter earnings season next week, offering an early gauge of the scale of surging demand for memory chips amid aggressive stockpiling driven by the global AI boom.
Market consensus compiled by FnGuide shows the South Korean tech giant is expected to post operating profit of about 15.5 trillion won (about $10.7 billion) for the quarter ended December, more than doubling the 6.49 trillion won (about $4.5 billion) recorded a year earlier. The sharp rebound reflects strengthening prices across memory products as supply tightens and data-center investment accelerates.
Prices have risen broadly across both DRAM and NAND, spanning mass-market to customized high-performance chips. Market tracker TrendForce estimates DRAM prices rose 13–18 percent in the October–December period, while NAND flash prices climbed 5–10 percent, supported by improving server demand and disciplined supply.
Samsung will release a detailed breakdown by business division later this month when it publishes its final earnings report.
For full-year 2025, Samsung’s operating profit is projected at around 39.15 trillion won, up roughly 20 percent from an estimated 32.7 trillion won in 2024, according to brokerage forecasts compiled in recent weeks.
Against this backdrop, Jun Young-hyun, head of Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division, has urged employees to strengthen the company’s “technology fundamentals” across memory, logic and advanced packaging. He said Samsung aims to fully leverage its integrated structure to respond to surging AI demand while deepening engagement with key customers.
The Device Experience (DX) division, which covers smartphones, TVs and home appliances, faces a more mixed outlook. Global smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 2–3 percent in 2026, but competition in AI-enabled premium devices is intensifying.
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 launch and the broader industry shift toward on-device AI are expected to play a key role in shaping performance. Roh Tae-moon, head of the DX division, said the unit will push “AI transformation” across products and internal operations, stressing the need for tighter execution and faster decision-making amid volatile consumer demand.
Looking ahead, analysts expect Samsung Electronics’ operating profit to climb to around 85.4 trillion won in 2026, with some bullish forecasts exceeding 100 trillion won, assuming stable memory pricing and sustained investment in AI servers.
Foundry revenue is projected to grow more modestly as Samsung ramps up its 2-nanometer-class gate-all-around (GAA) processes, though competition with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. remains a key challenge.
In consumer electronics, demand remains subdued. Research firm Omdia forecasts global TV shipments will rise by about 1 percent in 2026, supported in part by replacement demand tied to major sporting events, including the North and Central America World Cup.
In its New Year messages, Samsung also underscored the importance of compliance, safety and supply-chain stability, saying the company must reinforce execution capabilities amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty and the rising capital intensity of AI infrastructure.
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