SEOUL, January 29 (AJP)-Samsung Electronics, South Korea's No. 1 tech behemoth, raked in strong operating income and record sales in the final quarter and full year of 2025, but fell short of expectations and in the memory race versus local rival SK hynix, which shifted faster toward an AI-centric architecture and client base.
According to its finalized results disclosed Thursday, for the quarter ended December the company reported 16.4 trillion won ($1.14 billion) in chip (DS) operating profit, up as much as 9.4 trillion won from the previous quarter and 13.5 trillion won from the same period a year ago.
Its staggering performance however has been paled by its rival. On the previous day, rival local pure-play memory maker SK hynix delivered 19.17 trillion won in operating profit on sales of 80.8 trillion won during the same period, flashing an operating margin of 58 percent — the industry's highest — due to the company’s fab concentration on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) that powers multi-functional AI accelerators and hyperscale data centers.
Chip sales reached 44 trillion won in the fourth quarter, up 33 percent on year and 46 percent on quarter, and 130 trillion won for full-year 2025, up 17 percent. Of that, memory sales totaled 37 trillion won for the fourth quarter and 104.1 trillion won for full-year 2025.
Mindful of its lateness in the HBM race, Samsung Electronics said in its earnings statement that it will address “customers' demand by timely shipment of competitive HBM4” and continue expanding AI-related product sales while “proactively addressing AI-related NAND demand.”
For full-year 2025, the company generated 24.9 trillion won in chip operating profit, up 9.8 percent on year. SK hynix reported operating profit of 47.2 trillion won on sales of 97.15 trillion won for full-year 2025, underscoring the gap in profitability driven by its focus on AI-related and other high-margin chips.
Beyond chip sector, Samsung’s smartphone operation - Device eXperience (DX) division - posted an operating profit of 1.3 trillion won ($963 million) for the fourth quarter, nearly halved from 3.5 trillion won recorded in the previous quarter as new model launch effects fizzed out. The figure also fell significantly from the 2.3 trillion won earned in the same period of 2024, highlighting a year-on-year drop of over 40 percent.
The display panel business maintained its earnings stability, reporting an operating profit of 2.0 trillion won. This remained flat compared to the 2.0 trillion won posted a year earlier, as robust demand for high-end smartphone panels and automotive applications offset broader market volatility.
Samsung’s audio-and-automotive unit Harman recorded 0.3 trillion won in operating profit, due to increased in-vehicle product supply in Europe and seasonal strength in audio products.
Looking ahead, Samsung said global tariff risks and geopolitical uncertainty are expected to persist in 2026. It said the DS division plans to leverage its strength as an integrated “one-stop solution” provider spanning logic, memory, foundry and packaging to secure leadership in AI semiconductors, while DX will respond by diversifying its supply chain and optimizing operations, expanding AI-enabled products and delivering more seamlessly integrated AI experiences.
Net cash amounted to 100.61 trillion won at the end of December, compared with 93.32 trillion won a year-ago period.
Shares were down 0.7 percent at 161,300 won as of 10:30 a.m.
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