Samsung logs 12% profit increase in 2Q on strong chip demand

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. has reported its operating profit rose 12% in the April-June quarter thanks to strong demand for server chips.

The world’s top producer of smartphones and memory chips said in a statement Thursday that its operating profit for the last quarter rose to 14.1 trillion won ($10.8 billion) and its consolidated revenue climbed to a second-quarter record of 77.2 trillion won ($59 billion).

Profitability of the memory business improved as the company “focused on meeting solid demand for servers under the disciplined sales strategy to meet market demand, helping to maintain average selling prices,” it said.

The strength of the U.S. dollar against the Korean won benefited its components businesses, giving Samsung a 1.3 trillion won ($1 billion) company-wide gain in operating profit compared to the previous quarter.

Samsung predicted server demand will remain solid but PC and mobile demand is likely to weaken further after the boom at the height of the pandemic, when people were adjusting to working from home.

“For the second half, smartphone market demand is forecast to stay similar year-on-year or show single-digit growth with prolonged geopolitical issues and economic uncertainties,” the company said.