Samsung Electronics Co yesterday announced a record first quarter sales forecast and said it saw a better-than-expected performance for profits, even as analysts warned US tariffs could soon impact the South Korean tech giant.
In a regulatory filing, Samsung predicted its January to last month operating profits to rise to 6.6 trillion won (US$4.46 billion), down 0.15 percent from a year earlier but up about two percent on the previous quarter.
This was almost 34 percent higher than the average estimate, said South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which cited its own financial data firm.
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Samsung is a chip powerhouse, and one of the world’s largest makers of mobile phones.
The company said sales were also seen increasing to 79 trillion won, a near 10 percent jump from a year earlier, marking the highest first-quarter figure on record and the second-highest quarterly revenue ever.
The company did not disclose its net income or the detailed earnings of its business divisions.
However, experts say US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs could heavily impact Samsung as more than half of its smartphones are made in Vietnam, which now faces a 46 percent US duty.
“Samsung’s consensus-beating first-quarter operating profit implies its popular product offerings, such as Galaxy smartphones, could weather a tough business environment, when combined with strong cost control capabilities,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts said. “Yet the pace of profit growth might slow in the second quarter given most of its smartphones are made in Vietnam, which subjects them to US import tariffs.”
The high figures forecast were partly down to record sales of the new Galaxy S25 series phone, which was released in February, experts said.
Samsung also benefited from strong demand for server DRAM — mostly used in data centers — which offset slowing prices for more conventional high-end chips, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) analyst Tom Hsu (許家源) said.
There was “strong purchase momentum” from some US and Chinese cloud service providers, who were investing in their data centers, he said.
However, “with the US government imposing substantial tariffs, leading to a potential for economic uncertainties,” demand is likely to fall, which could hit prices, he added.
Because of US rules limiting the export of artificial intelligence chips to China, and Beijing’s push to use more local suppliers, fewer orders are going to companies such as Samsung, TrendForce analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said.
“Because of this, Samsung Foundry’s sales are expected to go down in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter,” Chiao said.
Looking ahead, “geopolitical factors” are making it harder for some of Samsung’s Chinese customers to use advanced technology.
“This is dampening overall demand momentum,” and as a result, slowing Samsung’s total sales growth this year, she said.
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