Samsung’s quarterly profit likely to drop 39% on weak AI chip sales

The world’s biggest maker of memory chips is projected to report its lowest income in six quarters

Reading Time:2 minutes

A Samsung flag flutters outside the company’s building in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00am, 7 Jul 2025Updated: 5:05pm, 7 Jul 2025

Samsung Electronics is expected to forecast a 39 per cent plunge in second-quarter operating profit on Tuesday, weighed down by delays in supplying advanced memory chips to artificial intelligence (AI) chip leader Nvidia.

The world’s biggest maker of memory chips is projected to report an April-June operating profit of 6.3 trillion won (US$4.62 billion), its lowest income in six quarters, according to LSEG SmartEStimate.

The prolonged weakness in its financial performance has deepened investor concerns over the South Korean tech giant’s ability to catch up with smaller rivals in developing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI data centres.

Its key rivals, SK Hynix and Micron Technology, have benefited from robust demand for memory chips needed for AI, but Samsung’s gains have been subdued as it relies on the China market, where sales of advanced chips have been restricted by the US.

Its efforts to get the latest version of its HBM chips to Nvidia certified by the US company were also moving slowly, analysts said.

“HBM revenue likely remained flat in the second quarter, as China sales restrictions persist and Samsung has yet to begin supplying its HBM3E 12-high chips to Nvidia,” said Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities.