Samsung Electronics reported a record quarterly profit of approximately $31.8 billion for Q1. The company’s semiconductor division saw operating income jump 48-fold from the previous year. Soaring sales of high-margin AI chips and rising memory prices drove the growth.
Samsung warned that the global memory chip shortage will intensify through next year. Customers are already placing orders for 2027 to secure future supply. Industry-wide supply increases remain constrained by the significant lead times required to build new fabrication plants.
Rapid AI advancement has triggered a structural shift in demand for high-bandwidth memory. Heavy infrastructure spending from Meta and Alphabet fuels this sustained demand. These market conditions signal a potential end to the traditional boom-and-bust cycle for memory chips.