Overview

• Samsung’s preliminary Q2 operating profit fell 56% to 4.6 trillion won driven by sluggish AI memory demand.
• Delays in ramping up HBM3E 12-layer memory chips have weighed on sales growth.
• US export controls on advanced AI chips for China triggered large inventory write-downs.
• Idle semiconductor production lines intensified losses in Samsung’s non-memory units.
• The company continues HBM3E shipments to AMD while experts expect Nvidia deliveries to remain negligible this year and final Q2 figures are due at the end of July.