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By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday its second-quarter net profit jumped nearly 1,300 percent from a year earlier, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductors offset weaker earnings in its mobile business.

Net profit for the April-June period came to 71.62 trillion won (US$49.6 billion), up 1,299.9 percent on-year from 5.11 trillion won a year earlier, the South Korean tech giant said in a press release.

Operating income for the cited quarter rose 1,813.8 percent on-year to 89.49 trillion won while sales increased 130 percent on-year to 171.49 trillion won.

The world's top memory chipmaker posted record quarterly revenue and operating profit for the third consecutive quarter.

The results met market expectations. The average analyst estimate for net profit was 71.21 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data unit of Yonhap News Agency.

Earnings per share stood at 10,849 won for both common and preferred shares, up 52 percent from the previous quarter, reaching one of the highest levels among global technology companies.

Samsung Electronics attributed the stellar performance to its response to growing market demand by leveraging its technological leadership, particularly in AI-related products.

The lucrative semiconductor business posted record sales of 127.5 trillion won and operating profit of 89.2 trillion won for the cited quarter.

The strong performance was driven by continued growth in global investment in AI infrastructure, which has tightened semiconductor supplies and kept memory chip prices elevated.

Samsung Electronics said it expects semiconductor demand to remain strong in the second half of the year, supporting continued growth in overall earnings.

"In the second half of this year, the memory business expects robust demand centered on servers stemming from continued AI infrastructure capex and broader adoption of agentic AI," the company outlined in a release.

Industry observers expect favorable market conditions for the global chip market to continue at least through next year.

Samsung Electronics has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, backed by the world's largest memory chip production capacity.

Although some analysts have recently raised concerns that the semiconductor industry's rapid growth could peak in the near future, Samsung has continued to sign long-term supply agreements with major technology companies and expand production capacity to meet expected demand over the medium to long term.

The company has also expanded sales of higher-value products after becoming the first in the industry to begin mass production and shipments of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, or HBM4, chips.

However, the division overseeing mobile devices and home appliances reported 48 trillion won in sales and an operating loss of 800 billion won, marking its first quarterly operating loss since the company's founding.

The mobile business, which accounts for most of the division's sales, saw sales increase from a year earlier on solid sales of flagship products, led by the Galaxy S26 series, as well as strong demand for the A series. Its operating profit, however, declined due to increased cost pressures.

The increase in costs was driven in particular by surging prices for key components, including DRAM and NAND flash memory.

Samsung's home appliance and TV businesses also swung back to an operating loss of hundreds of billions of won after just one quarter, hurt by weak global demand and higher raw material costs stemming from conflicts in the Middle East.

Samsung said it expects challenging business conditions to persist amid heightened global uncertainties and rising production costs. The company plans to strengthen the competitiveness of its businesses while pursuing structural improvements.

khj@yna.co.kr

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