The king returns! Samsung Electronics' Q4 revenue hits a record 93.8 trillion won, with operating profit from its memory business soaring by 465%, reclaiming the top spot in the DRAM market.

The industry giant that once dominated the global semiconductor market finally announced its strong comeback in the fourth quarter of 2025. This world's largest memory chip maker broke through with high bandwidth memory (HBM) technology and rising market prices, setting quarterly records for both revenue and operating profit in Q4 2025, and reclaiming the top spot in dynamic random access memory (DRAM) sales from competitor SK Hynix.

On January 29, Samsung Electronics released its latest financial report showing that revenue for Q4 2025 reached 93.8 trillion won, up 23.8% year-on-year and up 9% quarter-on-quarter; operating profit was 20.1 trillion won, a surge of 209.2% year-on-year, both setting single-quarter records for South Korean companies. In all of 2025, annual revenue reached 333.6 trillion won and operating profit was 43.6 trillion won, growing 10.87% and 33.3% year-on-year, respectively.

The financial report shows that Samsung's semiconductor division (DS) contributed 80% of the group's operating profits, with Q4 revenue of 44 trillion won, up 33% quarter-on-quarter, and operating profit of 16.4 trillion won, soaring 465% year-on-year. The memory business set records for quarterly revenue and operating profit, mainly benefitting from the expanded sales of high value-added products like HBM and overall market price increases.

According to Korea's Chosun Ilbo, after temporarily losing its edge due to misjudgment, the company regained technological competitiveness through a comprehensive overhaul of HBM design and recaptured the top ranking for DRAM sales (by revenue) in the fourth quarter. Market institutions forecast that, driven by the semiconductor boom and memory supply shortages, Samsung's operating profit this year could reach 180 trillion won, an increase of 314% year-on-year.

Record-breaking Memory Business, HBM4 Starts Delivery This Quarter

Swept by the wave of AI, memory chips have become the absolute core of Samsung Electronics’ performance growth. Samsung's memory division achieved new highs in both quarterly revenue and operating profit in Q4.

Despite limited supply, the division met strong traditional DRAM demand and expanded HBM sales against a backdrop of overall price increases, achieving this success. The business focus has shifted to improving profitability with high value-added products like HBM, server DDR5, and enterprise SSDs.

The company's competitive standing in HBM has experienced a dramatic shift. According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung held a 38% DRAM market share in Q4 2024 but slipped to 34% in Q1 2025, overtaken by SK Hynix (36%).

However, Samsung did not remain silent for long. To regain technological competitiveness, Samsung thoroughly revamped its HBM design. Key signals from the financial report show that Samsung has successfully delivered HBM3E to Nvidia and entered Google and AMD's supply chains.

Even more compelling, Samsung announced the completion of HBM4 development, with industry-leading speeds of 11.7Gbps, and plans to begin full-scale shipments to Nvidia next month. The delivery of these 12-layer HBM4 products aims to rebuild its leadership in the high-end HBM market.

Looking ahead to 2026, the memory business plans to continue close cooperation with clients, meeting their needs by promptly shipping competitive HBM4 as well as expanding sales of DDR5, SOCAMM2, and GDDR7 products related to AI. In the NAND sector, the division will actively respond to AI-related demand, focusing on expanding sales of Key Value SSD high-performance TLC products for inference.

Chip Foundry Begins Mass Production of First-Generation 2nm, System LSI Focuses on Advanced Processes

Samsung's chip foundry business saw overall revenue growth in Q4 due to strong demand from major market clients, but profitability improvement was limited by temporary costs. The division has begun mass production of first-generation 2nm products and has started shipping 4nm HBM base chip products.

Q1 revenue is expected to decline quarter-on-quarter due to seasonal weakness, but orders are expected to expand, mainly from HPC and mobile clients.

For all of 2026, the business aims for double-digit revenue growth and improved profitability, driven by advanced manufacturing processes, with plans to ramp up second-generation 2nm production and prepare to produce 4nm processes optimized for performance and power consumption, while providing optimized solutions through integrated logic, memory, and advanced packaging technologies to enhance competitiveness.

System LSI business saw lower profits in Q4 due to seasonal demand weakness and schedule adjustments by major clients. However, image sensor revenue grew thanks to new 200MP and 50MP large-pixel products.

Profits in Q1 are expected to recover with new product launches, while leadership in image sensors will be reinforced by expanding the 200MP product line. In 2026, the business will focus on improving profitability by expanding sales through differentiated SoC performance and stable yields.

Mobile and Consumer Electronics Under Pressure, R&D Investment Hits Record High

In contrast to the strong performance of the semiconductor business, Samsung's consumer business faces challenges.

The financial report shows that mobile and network business combined revenue for Q4 was 29.3 trillion won, with operating profit of only 1.9 trillion won, down 8% quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to waning effects of new smartphone models and intense market competition.

Home appliance and TV businesses recorded losses for the second consecutive quarter after Q3. The combined revenue of display panel and home appliance businesses for Q4 was 14.8 trillion won, with an operating loss of 0.6 trillion won.

Although the TV business expanded revenue through strong sales of high-end products like Neo QLED and OLED and effective management of seasonal peak demand, profitability remains pressured amid ongoing fierce market competition.

Samsung’s Q4 R&D investment reached 10.9 trillion won, up 2 trillion won quarter-on-quarter, with annual R&D spending hitting a record high of 37.7 trillion won. This demonstrates the company’s continued efforts to increase investment in technological innovation.

Looking ahead to Q1 2026, the mobile business plans to offer an Agentic AI experience with the launch of the Galaxy S26 series, further strengthening its leadership in AI smartphones. Throughout 2026, the division intends to consolidate its mobile AI leadership through next-generation AI experiences and sleeker, lighter designs, while remaining committed to profitability via process optimization amidst persistent cost pressures.

2026 Focuses on AI Era Growth Opportunities

The financial report shows Samsung expects AI and server demand to continue growing in Q1 2026, bringing more structural growth opportunities. The semiconductor division will continue to focus on profitability by emphasizing high-performance products.

For all of 2026, the division aims to lead the AI era with product competitiveness in a rapidly growing demand environment, particularly by expanding sales of AI-related products in DRAM and NAND.

According to Chosun Ilbo, industry sources indicated that Samsung’s semiconductor business has begun to accelerate again after a slowdown. The current global memory supply shortage is expected to directly benefit Samsung, which has massive production capacity.

SK Securities predicts that Samsung's operating profit this year will grow 314% year-on-year to 180 trillion won, with an operating profit margin of 37%, setting all-time highs in both profit and profitability.

The Device Experience (DX) division plans in 2026 to expand AI-driven product supply, integrating AI technology across device, feature, and service ecosystems.

The division will focus on profit growth by ensuring component supply stability, implementing efficiency measures, and, as an AI era leader, delivering the best AI experience to customers.

The display panel business will advance its smartphone market leadership with differentiated technology, continue its premium market leadership in TVs by focusing on new high-brightness products, and drive monitor sales expansion with differentiated performance advantages.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks, and investments need to be made cautiously. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the special investment objectives, financial circumstances, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their specific circumstances. Investments made accordingly are at your own risk.