"All Eyes on Samsung Retail Investors as Semiconductor Boom Drives Operating Profit Toward 20 Trillion Won for the First Time"

General-Purpose DRAM Prices Hit All-Time High
HBM4 Market Poised for Takeoff

With the surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and even general-purpose DRAM prices reaching all-time highs, attention is focused on whether Samsung Electronics might surpass 20 trillion won in quarterly operating profit for the first time. As memory prices, both advanced and general-purpose, continue to rise, there are expectations that the company’s semiconductor business will enjoy an unprecedented boom this year.

According to industry sources on January 4, Samsung Electronics is scheduled to announce its preliminary results for the fourth quarter of last year on January 7 or 8. Based on the consensus of ten securities firms that recently released reports within the past month, Samsung Electronics is estimated to have recorded 1.8993 trillion won in operating profit for the fourth quarter of last year. It is analyzed that more than 16 trillion won of that total came from the DS (Device Solutions) division, which is responsible for the semiconductor business. This marks a significant increase compared to the 7 trillion won reported in the previous quarter.

Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus panorama.

Some market watchers are even forecasting that quarterly operating profit could exceed 20 trillion won for the first time. IBK Securities, which issued the most recent report, projected operating profit at 2.1746 trillion won, indicating that forecasts are being revised upward.

This sharp improvement in profitability is attributed to soaring prices for general-purpose memory products such as DRAM and NAND flash. According to market research firm DRAMeXchange, the average contract price for standard PC DRAM (DDR4 8Gb 1Gx8) jumped from $1.35 at the end of 2024 to $9.3 at the end of last year—an increase of nearly sevenfold. In the fourth quarter alone, prices rose by 32.9%.

This is the first time DDR4 prices have surpassed $9 since the survey began in June 2016, when DDR4 was priced at $2.94. The rising price of a product more than a decade after launch is due to supply shortages. Soaring demand for high-performance DRAM such as HBM has led memory suppliers to reduce production capacity for older DRAM products.

Samsung Electronics also demonstrated its technological prowess in HBM4, which is expected to become the fiercest battleground in memory this year. The company reportedly received top scores in HBM4 system-in-package (SiP) testing from Nvidia and Broadcom. The HBM4 market is expected to fully take off in the second half of this year, coinciding with the launch of Nvidia’s next-generation AI accelerator, Rubin.

Another positive development is the recent resumption of Nvidia’s supply of older AI chips to the Chinese market. The H200 chips, which Nvidia will supply in large volumes to Chinese companies, will be equipped with HBM3E from both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Industry experts believe Samsung Electronics is likely to significantly narrow the market share gap with SK hynix in the HBM market this year. Samsung Electronics captured 13% of the global HBM market in the first quarter of last year, 15% in the second quarter, and 22% in the third quarter. It is projected that the company will increase its share to over 30% this year. According to securities analysts, Samsung Electronics’ annual operating profit is expected to surpass 100 trillion won this year, buoyed by growth in the semiconductor business.

Samsung’s management has also declared a revival of the semiconductor business, emphasizing a fundamental recovery of technological leadership. On January 2, Kyung-Hyun Kye, President and Head of the DS division (Vice Chairman) at Samsung Electronics, stated in his New Year’s address, “HBM4 has demonstrated differentiated performance competitiveness to the extent that customers are saying ‘Samsung is back.’” He added, “Last year, we achieved recovery in the HBM business, strengthened foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) order activities, and attracted global customers for image sensors, but these are only the foundation for restoring technological leadership.” He stressed that Samsung Electronics is the world’s only semiconductor company capable of providing a ‘one-stop solution’ from logic to memory, foundry, and advanced packaging, and called for the company to lead the AI era.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.