Samsung Electronics has delivered one of the strongest quarterly chip results in the semiconductor industry’s recent history. In its second-quarter 2026 results release on July 30, the company said consolidated revenue reached $118.9 billion. Operating profit climbed to $62.1 billion, both record highs. Samsung’s Device Solutions division, which houses the chip business, posted $88.4 billion in revenue and $61.9 billion in operating profit. The chip segment profit was up more than 250-fold year on year.
Samsung’s Memory Business reached a new quarterly record, supported by strong AI demand and limited capacity. The company’s Device eXperience division, which includes smartphones and consumer devices, posted a quarterly sales decline, while the MX and Networks businesses recorded an operating loss of $485 million because of elevated component cost pressure.
Samsung is benefiting from the same memory-price cycle that is raising costs for parts of its own device business. In other words, the company is making extraordinary profit in chips even as higher component prices weigh on its mobile and consumer hardware operations.
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According to Samsung, its Memory Business addressed AI demand despite limited capacity, with a primary focus on server products. Samsung expects shortages to worsen in 2027 and continue into 2028, and has signed long-term supply agreements with large data-centre customers. Samsung expects robust server-memory demand in the second half of 2026 as AI infrastructure spending continues and agentic AI adoption broadens.
AI demand is not only lifting GPU makers, but it is also lifting the memory suppliers that feed AI systems with DRAM, NAND and high-bandwidth memory. Samsung’s result shows that the memory side of the AI supply chain has become a major profit engine.
In its first-quarter 2026 results, Samsung reported $92.9 billion in revenue and $39.7 billion in operating profit. At that time, the company said the Memory Business had already hit record quarterly sales by serving high-value AI demand amid limited supply and rising industry memory prices.
That makes Q2 less like a one-off jump and more like an extension of an already strong cycle.
Compares with other chip makers
Samsung is not alone in benefiting from the AI memory boom. SK Hynix also reported strong quarterly results, but its numbers fell short of high investor expectations, and it said it would raise capital spending by about 50% to meet demand. That comparison is useful because it shows the market is rewarding semiconductor suppliers, but it is also forcing them to spend heavily to keep pace with AI demand.
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