Samsung’s semiconductor restoration has materialised through the third quarter of 2025, with the South Korean tech big posting an working revenue of KRW 12.2 trillion (US$8.6 billion) – greater than double the earlier quarter and ending a streak of 4 consecutive quarterly declines in its chip division.
The turnaround centred on Samsung’s Machine Options division, which reported KRW 33.1 trillion in income and KRW 7.0 trillion in working revenue, an over tenfold enhance from the June quarter.
The Reminiscence Enterprise achieved what Samsung described as “record-high quarterly income,” pushed by expanded gross sales of high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM3E) chips and server solid-state drives – each vital parts for synthetic intelligence infrastructure.
However this wasn’t merely a narrative of rising tides lifting all boats. Samsung’s semiconductor restoration displays calculated strategic pivots made throughout its downturn, market dynamics that lastly shifted in its favour, and intense aggressive pressures that pressured the corporate to speed up its AI chip roadmap.
The street again from the stoop
Samsung’s journey to this quarter’s efficiency started in a distinct place. All through 2024 and into early 2025, the corporate confronted a number of headwinds: a brutal reminiscence chip glut that collapsed costs, delayed qualification of its HBM merchandise with key clients, and the corporate seeing rival SK Hynix seize early management in AI reminiscence chips.
The low level got here within the second quarter of 2025, when Samsung’s chip division reported working revenue that had analysts questioning whether or not the corporate had misplaced its technological edge. SK Hynix had seized the highest spot within the reminiscence marketplace for the primary time, fueled by its early success supplying HBM chips to Nvidia’s AI accelerators.
MS Hwang, analysis director at Counterpoint Analysis, contextualised Samsung’s third-quarter efficiency as “a transparent results of a broader reminiscence market increase and rising costs for general-purpose reminiscence.”
However Hwang’s agency additionally famous that Samsung had reclaimed the highest spot within the reminiscence market from SK Hynix throughout Q3, suggesting the semiconductor restoration concerned extra than simply beneficial market situations.
HBM: From laggard to mass manufacturing
Samsung’s means to reverse its HBM fortunes proved central to the turnaround. The corporate confirmed that HBM3E is now “in mass manufacturing and being bought to all associated clients,” whereas HBM4 samples are “concurrently being shipped to key purchasers.”
Experiences emerged in late September that Samsung had handed Nvidia’s qualification exams for superior high-bandwidth reminiscence chips – a vital milestone that had eluded the corporate for months. Whereas Samsung hasn’t confirmed the Nvidia qualification publicly, the timing aligns with the acceleration in HBM gross sales mirrored in Q3 outcomes.
Through the firm’s earnings name, a Samsung government outlined the demand surroundings: “We count on information centre firms to constantly develop their {hardware} funding due to the continued competitors to safe AI infrastructure. Subsequently, our AI-related server demand retains rising, and this demand considerably exceeds trade provide.”
That offer-demand imbalance has created pricing energy that Samsung lacked throughout its declining quarters. The corporate particularly cited “a beneficial worth surroundings” and “notably diminished one-off prices like stock worth changes” as contributors to increased earnings.
Past reminiscence: Foundry progress and challenges
Samsung’s semiconductor restoration prolonged past reminiscence chips. The Foundry Enterprise, which manufactures chips designed by different firms, “posted a major enchancment in earnings in Q3 2025, stemming from a discount in one-off prices and higher fab use.” The division additionally achieved “record-high buyer orders, primarily on superior nodes.”
The foundry enterprise is ramping up mass manufacturing of 2-nanometer Gate-All-Round (GAA) merchandise, an vital know-how that helps keep competitiveness towards TSMC, the corporate that dominates the foundry market. Samsung indicated it might start operations at its fab in Taylor, Texas, “in a well timed method” in 2026.
Nonetheless, the System LSI Enterprise, which designs Samsung’s Exynos processors and picture sensors, noticed earnings stall “as a result of seasonality and buyer stock changes.”
What this implies for 2026
Samsung’s steerage for the approaching 12 months displays confidence that the semiconductor restoration has endurance. The Reminiscence Enterprise will “give attention to the mass manufacturing of HBM4 merchandise with differentiated efficiency” whereas aiming to “scale out the HBM gross sales base.”
The corporate plans capability growth in its 1c manufacturing course of to fulfill projected HBM4 demand will increase. Consolidated income for the quarter reached KRW 86.1 trillion, a 15.4% enhance from the earlier quarter and eight.85% increased year-over-year. The Machine eXperience division, which incorporates smartphones, contributed KRW 34.1 trillion in income, supported by the Galaxy Z Fold7 launch and robust flagship gross sales.
But challenges persist. Samsung Show reported strong efficiency with KRW 8.1 trillion in income and KRW 1.2 trillion in working revenue, however the Visible Show enterprise recorded an working lack of KRW 0.1 trillion regardless of “strong gross sales progress of premium merchandise,” citing “intensified competitors.”
The semiconductor restoration that Samsung achieved in Q3 2025 resolves the instant disaster that threatened its market place. Whether or not the corporate can maintain this momentum whereas navigating intense competitors from SK Hynix in HBM, TSMC in foundry, and rising geopolitical pressures on the chip trade will decide if this quarter marked a real turning level or merely a reprieve.
For now, Samsung has demonstrated that even after 4 quarters of decline, strategic execution and market timing can nonetheless produce a comeback.
(Photograph by Babak Habibi)
See additionally: Samsung AI technique delivers report income regardless of semiconductor headwinds
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