Samsung Electronics Co expects memorychip supply shortages to raise prices across the electronics industry, including potentially among its own consumer products.
The South Korean company is the world’s largest memory maker, but even its portfolio is not immune to the surging cost of the component essential to everything from smartphones and laptops to connected home appliances and self-driving vehicles.
“There’s going to be issues around semiconductor supplies, and it’s going to affect everyone,” Samsung president and head of global marketing Lee Won-jin said in an interview at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. “Prices are going up even as we speak. Obviously, we don’t want to convey that burden to the consumers, but we’re going to be at a point where we have to actually consider repricing our products.”
Photo: AFP
An artificial intelligence (AI) data center buildout boom has brought about unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth memory, a lucrative product that has lifted Samsung and fellow memory maker SK Hynix Inc’s stock prices to new highs, and dented production capacity for more conventional memory products. As a result, prices have soared for legacy DRAM used in more traditional servers as well as PCs and smartphones.
Counterpoint Research in November last year forecast a 50 percent price rise for memory modules through the second quarter of this year.
Samsung is better positioned than competitors who are unable to manufacture memory for their own products, and Lee sees the company outpacing the broader market.
“We’re more optimistic about the outlook of 2026 than what we experienced last year,” he said.
Samsung shares yesterday rose as much as 4 percent. The gains came just a day ahead of a preliminary earnings report.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg estimate Samsung’s earnings would more than double this year to a record high of about US$60 billion, on par with projections for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). Still, the South Korean firm’s market capitalization of US$560 billion is less than half that of TSMC, Asia’s most valuable company.
Research analysts are scrambling to raise price targets on TSMC shares, underscoring continued bullishness on the chipmaking giant after its record surge.
At least six brokerages, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Macquarie Group Ltd, have lifted projections on the Taipei-listed stock since the start of the year. JPMorgan Chase & Co hiked its target 24 percent to NT$2,100 in a report released yesterday, citing expectations of strong revenue growth and improving profitability.
“We expect 2026 to be another strong growth year for TSMC,” on expanding demand for the company’s most-advanced chipmaking technology and increased pricing, JPMorgan analyst Gokul Hariharan wrote in a note. “Gross margins should also see upside.”
TSMC is set to report results for last quarter next week. Analysts polled by Bloomberg expect sales to rise 18 percent from a year earlier, with its operating margin improving to a three-year high of more than 50 percent.
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