Samsung Electronics projected record fourth-quarter earnings of 20 trillion won ($13.8 billion) on Thursday, more than tripling year-over-year profit as AI-driven memory demand reached unprecedented levels. The South Korean tech giant's preliminary guidance showed revenue hitting 93 trillion won, marking the first time quarterly sales surpassed the 90 trillion won threshold.
The semiconductor division drove the surge, with memory chip prices skyrocketing amid a global AI infrastructure scramble. Contract prices for DDR5 DRAM surged over 300% year-over-year, according to industry reports, while Samsung's memory business alone generated $25.9 billion in Q4 revenue. The company's Device Solutions division operating profit reportedly jumped from 7 trillion won in Q3 to 16-17 trillion won in Q4.
Samsung's mobile experience (MX) and networks divisions faced contrasting pressure, with combined operating profit expected to decline 15-30% year-over-year to 1.4-1.8 trillion won. Component cost inflation squeezed margins as the same memory chips generating record semiconductor profits increased smartphone manufacturing expenses. The mobile business shipped approximately 59 million units in Q4, down 3-4% quarter-over-quarter as Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7 launch momentum faded.
The memory price surge creates a pricing dilemma for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S26 series, which multiple reports suggest will debut February 25. The company reportedly considers price hikes of 44,000-88,000 won ($30-$60) in South Korea but may freeze US prices due to competitive pressure from Apple. Samsung co-CEO Roh Tae-moon warned at CES 2026 that "unprecedented" memory costs would "impact product pricing."
High-bandwidth memory (HBM) represents Samsung's next growth frontier, with the company positioned to capture NVIDIA's HBM4 orders. Analysts project HBM sales will triple to 26 trillion won in 2026, potentially pushing Samsung's annual operating profit to 123 trillion won. The transition to HBM4 comes as Samsung reportedly implements a 2.5 trillion won strategic buyback to retain engineering talent critical for advanced 1.4nm manufacturing.
Despite mobile division challenges, Samsung's full-year 2025 performance remained strong with 43.53 trillion won operating profit, up 33% year-over-year. The company will release detailed Q4 and full-year results including business segment breakdowns on January 29. Memory chip specialization continues to reshape the industry, with analysts noting chips are no longer uniform commodities but differentiated products commanding premium pricing.
The AI infrastructure boom has fundamentally shifted Samsung's business model, creating a lopsided tech economy where semiconductor profits dwarf consumer electronics margins. As cloud providers race to build 2026-spec data centers, Samsung's manufacturing scale positions it as the primary beneficiary of memory pricing power, even as its smartphone division absorbs those same cost increases.
