Samsung Quarterly Profit Climbs on Chip Demand and Displays

Samsung reported better-than-projected profit on booming demand for displays and memory chips, according to Bloomberg.

Operating income almost tripled to a record 14.5 trillion won ($12.8 billion) in the three months ended September, according to preliminary results. That compares with the 14.3 trillion-won average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Third-quarter revenue matched predictions at 62 trillion won.

The world’s largest maker of memory chips already posted record earnings in the previous quarter as everything from computer servers to artificial intelligence-driven devices fuels demand for semiconductors, driving up DRAM and NAND prices. Samsung supplies the chips for smartphone makers as well as data center operators.

Samsung is counting on the S8 and Note 8 smartphones released this year to recover from last year’s debacle with the Note 7. The company may benefit if Apple is unable to deliver a high volume of iPhone X smartphones as planned this year.

Samsung also leads in the next generation of screens called organic light-emitting diode displays, supplying them to Apple and other smartphone makers, even as it competes for dominance in the global market. It’s also seeking to release a phone with a bendable display next year to tighten the lead with Apple and fend off challenges from Huawei, Oppo and other Chinese rivals.

Still, the company’s chips business has remained robust, helped by strong demand for memory chips. Contract prices for 32 gigabyte DRAM server modules climbed 7.2 percent in the September quarter from the June period while prices for 128 gigabit MLC NAND flash memory chips rose 4.7 percent in the same period, according to inSpectrum Tech.