The world is facing the twin pressures of rising device prices as memory prices surge due to data center demand and a fuel crisis due to the war in the Middle East. As some companies cut jobs due to losses, Samsung recorded a Q1 operating profit of 57.2 trillion won (~RM 153 billion) in Q1 2025, an increase of more than 750% compared to the same quarter last year. This is the highest quarterly profit increase ever recorded by Samsung.
The company's revenue in the same quarter was 133.9 trillion won, an increase of 70%. This very high profit increase was driven by high demand for HBM (High‑Bandwidth Memory) memory and browser memory for AI data centers. The memory produced by Samsung Semiconductors has been sold at premium prices with large profit margins. Chip sales alone contributed 81.7 trillion won in revenue.
However, at the same time, Samsung's MX mobile device business is also facing problems this year. High memory and storage costs will cause profit margins to shrink. We previously reported that Samsung MX may be on track to post its first loss of the year due to the RAM crisis.
A huge irony, as Samsung has been focusing on AI features on its Galaxy phones for two years in a row. Now, AI is taking a heavy toll on the Samsung subsidiary's earnings.
