Posted Jul 30, 2026 at 6:33 AM UTCTExternal LinkSamsung’s smartphone biz posts first ever loss, but profit still soars 1,300 percent on RAM.Samsung Electronic’s memory chip business is killing it, hitting $49.64 billion for the quarter and driving over 99 percent of its operating profit. But the price gouging created by the AI hype caused its smartphone and home-appliance businesses to post modest operating losses due to the higher cost of chips and other components.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Thomas Ricker
Samsung’s smartphone biz posts first ever loss, but profit still soars 1,300 percent on RAM.
Samsung Electronic’s memory chip business is killing it, hitting $49.64 billion for the quarter and driving over 99 percent of its operating profit. But the price gouging created by the AI hype caused its smartphone and home-appliance businesses to post modest operating losses due to the higher cost of chips and other components. [Link: Samsung Sees Chip Crunch Through 2028 as Profit Soars to Record | https://www.wsj.com/tech/samsungs-chip-earnings-push-net-profit-to-record-cf8711bc | WSJ]
TL;DRAI
Samsung's memory division hit $49.6B revenue (99% of operating profit) on AI demand, forcing the phone business into its first-ever operating loss. Memory suppliers' pricing power is eroding device makers' margins—unsustainable without DRAM/NAND cost normalization.
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