By Heekyong Yang
SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics is anticipated to forecast a 39% plunge in second-quarter working revenue on Tuesday, weighed down by delays in supplying superior reminiscence chips to synthetic intelligence chip chief Nvidia.
The world’s largest maker of reminiscence chips is projected to report an April-June working revenue of 6.3 trillion gained ($4.62 billion), its lowest earnings in six quarters and fourth consecutive quarterly decline, in keeping with LSEG SmartEStimate.
The extended weak spot in its monetary efficiency has deepened investor issues over the South Korean tech big’s skill to meet up with smaller rivals in growing high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM) chips utilized in synthetic intelligence knowledge centres.
Its key rivals, SK Hynix and Micron, have benefited from strong demand for reminiscence chips wanted for AI, however Samsung’s good points have been subdued because it depends on the China market, the place gross sales of superior chips have been restricted by the U.S.
Its efforts to get the newest model of its HBM chips to Nvidia licensed by Nvidia are additionally shifting slowly, analysts mentioned.
“HBM income possible remained flat within the second quarter, as China gross sales restrictions persist and Samsung has but to start supplying its HBM3E 12-high chips to Nvidia,” mentioned Ryu Younger-ho, a senior analyst at NH Funding & Securities.
He mentioned Samsung’s shipments of the brand new chip to Nvidia are unlikely to be important this 12 months.
Samsung, which anticipated in March that significant progress over its HBM chip might come as early as June, declined to touch upon whether or not its HBM 3E 12-layer chips had handed Nvidia’s qualification course of.
The corporate, nonetheless, has began supplying the chip to AMD, the U.S. agency mentioned in June.
Samsung’s smartphone gross sales are more likely to stay strong, helped by demand for inventory forward of potential U.S. tariffs on imported smartphones, analysts mentioned.
A lot of its key companies together with chips, smartphones and residential home equipment proceed to face enterprise uncertainty from numerous U.S. commerce insurance policies together with President Donald Trump’s proposal for a 25% tariff on non-US-made-smartphones and the July 9 deadline for “reciprocal” tariffs towards a lot of its buying and selling companions.
The U.S. can be contemplating revoking authorisations granted to international chipmakers together with Samsung, making it tougher for them to obtain U.S. expertise at their vegetation in China.
Shares in Samsung, the worst performing inventory amongst main reminiscence chipmakers this 12 months, have climbed about 19% this 12 months, underperforming a 27.3% rise within the benchmark KOSPI.
