Samsung Electronics announced on Thursday that operating profit for July-September reached a record 107.4 trillion won (about 80.5 billion dollars). Revenue for the same period was 195.3 trillion won (roughly 146 billion dollars) - also an all-time high. The company has thus set records for both profit and revenue for the fourth consecutive quarter.
The main driver is a sharp rise in demand for computer memory used in artificial intelligence (AI) systems. This is evidenced by data from Samsung's regulatory filings.
A day earlier, Samsung's competitor SK Hynix also reported record third-quarter profit. Together the two South Korean companies control about two-thirds of the global memory market. The global AI boom is fueling demand for their products, which is estimated to remain very high.
Samsung said it expects demand for AI chips to accelerate at least through 2027. The company believes it will outpace supply as customers rush to expand AI infrastructure. Samsung intends to focus on supplying advanced memory and storage for AI servers, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM - a type of memory designed for fast processing of large volumes of data in AI accelerators), server DRAM (random-access memory for servers) and solid-state drives (SSDs).
South Korean technology companies are actively investing in semiconductor production and data centers as the country ramps up its AI ambitions. In June, Samsung and SK Hynix announced plans to jointly invest 800 trillion won (about 599 billion dollars) in a new chip manufacturing cluster in the southwest of the country to meet AI-related demand.
However, some analysts doubt that this spending will pay off. South Korea's central bank warned that the country's trade-dependent economy is becoming too reliant on chips. According to the regulator, this could amplify the damage in the event of an AI downturn.