Samsung Q1 Operating Profit Rises 1.5% as Chip Division Plunges 42%

On April 30, Samsung Electronics reported its latest quarterly results, beating analyst expectations for both revenue and operating profit. The stronger-than-expected performance was driven by solid sales of its flagship Galaxy S25 smartphone and improvements in its memory chip business.

The South Korean tech giant posted a record-high first-quarter revenue of 79.1 trillion won, marking a 10% year-over-year increase and surpassing analysts’ forecast of 78.1 trillion won. Operating profit for the quarter came in at 6.7 trillion won, up 1.5% year-over-year, also exceeding the projected 6.4 trillion won.

Revenue slightly exceeded Samsung’s earlier estimate of 79 trillion won, while operating profit was higher than its internal forecast of 6.6 trillion won.

Samsung said the modest increase in operating profit during Q1 was largely due to customers stockpiling smartphones and general-purpose chips in response to concerns over U.S. tariffs, which helped offset weak performance in its AI chip segment. The company did not provide guidance for the current quarter, citing macroeconomic uncertainty due to trade tensions and slowing global growth. However, Samsung expects performance to improve in the second half of the year if these uncertainties ease.

By business segment, Samsung’s mobile and network division saw a 23% increase in operating profit, reaching 4.3 trillion won—its highest in four years—thanks to AI features integrated into the latest Galaxy S-series smartphones. In contrast, the semiconductor division reported operating profit of just 1.1 trillion won, representing a sharp 42% year-over-year decline. Despite this, Samsung noted that demand for AI servers is expected to remain strong in the current quarter and announced plans to accelerate production of its advanced 12-layer HBM3E chips during this period.