SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported progress on a significant provide deal for synthetic intelligence-focused chips, aiming to reassure buyers following a slowdown in semiconductor income over the last quarter.
The South Korean know-how large mentioned its working revenue for the July-September interval elevated by greater than 277% from a yr earlier to 9.18 trillion gained ($6.65 billion). However the determine represented a 12% decline from the second quarter, which Samsung attributed largely to one-off prices, corresponding to provision of worker incentives in its laptop chip enterprise, and the results of a weaker U.S. greenback.
Samsung’s semiconductor division earned 3.86 trillion gained ($2.8 billion) in working revenue throughout the quarter, rebounding from a deficit throughout 2023 however sharply declining from the 6.45 trillion gained ($4.67 billion) it reported within the April-June interval.
Whereas Samsung noticed strong demand for AI and server chips throughout the previous quarter, its cellular chip enterprise weakened as some prospects adjusted inventories. The market was additionally affected by Chinese language producers’ elevated provide of legacy reminiscence merchandise, the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
Extra critically, Samsung lagged behind key opponents corresponding to SK Hynix in HBM3E, the newest technology of excessive bandwidth reminiscence chips which are used to energy AI functions.
Throughout a convention name, Samsung Government Vice President Jaejune Kim mentioned the corporate just lately made a “significant advance” in a qualification check course of to supply its HBM3E merchandise to an unspecified “main consumer,” a growth he mentioned might probably drive up gross sales throughout the fourth quarter. Kim’s feedback touched off hypothesis that Samsung was closing in on a provide take care of Nvidia, a significant U.S. maker that designs superior chips powering AI.
“Within the fourth quarter, whereas reminiscence demand for cellular and PC could encounter softness, development in AI will hold demand at strong ranges. In opposition to this backdrop, the corporate will focus on driving gross sales of high-bandwidth reminiscence and high-density merchandise,” Samsung mentioned.
