Samsung Expects Record Profit from Conventional Memory Chip Sales

 Staff Reporter | PNN

Samsung Electronics has announced that due to the global competition to increase chip production for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it expects the highest quarterly profit in three years. The rise in prices and supply shortages of conventional memory chips has strengthened the company’s core business—memory chip sales.

Samsung estimates that its operating profit for the quarter from July to September 2025 will reach 12.1 trillion won (approximately $8.5 billion), a 30% increase compared to the same period last year, and significantly higher than LSEG SmartEstimate projections. This will be the largest profit in thirteen quarters.

Analysts have noted that Samsung’s chip business has been the main driver of this profit growth. Strong demand for conventional memory chips, which are used in data center servers, has outperformed sales of Nvidia’s advanced AI chips.

Samsung shares fell by 0.5%, although they had earlier risen by 2.9% to reach their highest level since January 2021. Analysts attribute this decline to profit-taking, as the shares have risen nearly 75% this year.

Ryu Young-ho, Senior Analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said, “The surprise in third-quarter profit came from the chip business. Demand for conventional memory chips combined with strong demand for HBM chips for AI servers has increased overall memory chip demand.”

Analysts say that Samsung is now mainly benefiting from price increases in conventional DRAM and NAND chips, driven by demand from data center servers. Additionally, lower chip inventories among manufacturers are giving them greater pricing power.

Samsung has stated that its revenue could rise 8.7% to 86 trillion won, the highest in a year, aided by a weak South Korean currency.

Analysts note that in recent years, memory manufacturers have focused investment on advanced chips, limiting the production of conventional chips and creating supply shortages, which has driven up prices. In the third quarter, DRAM chip prices rose 171.8%, widely used in servers, smartphones, and computers.

Experts expect that the supply shortage of conventional memory chips will continue until 2026, as major tech companies increase investments in AI, particularly for data centers and servers, which need to handle additional workloads for AI services.

Samsung has been the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer for 30 years, although it recently lost its top position in the advanced AI chip market to SK Hynix. However, analysts expect Samsung to improve its HBM chip sales, especially through the supply of 12-layer HBM3E chips for Nvidia.