Samsung's Q4 Profit Rises Year-on-Year but Falls Short of Expectations

The tech giant struggles with AI chip demand and increased costs, as competition intensifies in the high-bandwidth memory market.

Samsung Electronics reported a 130% year-on-year increase in Q4 2024 operating profit to KRW 6.5 trillion but fell 29% from the previous quarter.
Revenue for the quarter rose 12% year-on-year to KRW 75.8 trillion, beating market expectations, while net income reached KRW 7.75 trillion.
The company faced challenges meeting Nvidia's requirements for AI chips, with SK Hynix emerging as the main supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for AI servers.
Samsung is investing heavily in research and development to catch up in the HBM market, with plans to launch next-generation HBM4 chips in the second half of 2025.
Despite the growth in AI-related segments, Samsung forecasts limited earnings improvement in Q1 2025 due to semiconductor market weakness and U.S. export restrictions.