Samsung Electronics set a quarterly record in the first quarter of this year. Samsung Electronics said on April 30 it posted consolidated first-quarter 2026 revenue of 133.9 trillion won and operating profit of 57.2 trillion won. Revenue rose 69.16 percent from a year earlier and operating profit climbed 756.10 percent. Both quarterly revenue and operating profit were the highest on record.

Revenue rose 42.67 percent from the previous quarter and operating profit increased 185.11 percent. Net profit was 47.2 trillion won, up 474.31 percent from a year earlier.

Semiconductors were the key driver of the results. The DS (Device Solutions) division posted revenue of 81.7 trillion won and operating profit of 53.7 trillion won, setting a quarterly record. The company cited higher memory prices and expanding demand for high value-added products for AI.

The memory business opted for a strategy of raising the share of AI products sold within a limited supply and it succeeded. It began mass production and supply to the market of both HBM4 (fourth-generation high bandwidth memory) and SOCAMM2, a next-generation low-power memory module, for the first time in the industry. It also developed and released PCIe Gen6 SSDs in a timely manner, the company explained.

System LSI improved results on higher sales of flagship SoCs (system-on-chip). Foundry revenue fell due to a seasonal off-peak period, but it continued to win orders in the high-performance computing market. It also secured orders from a major optical communications module company and secured a foundation for its silicon photonics business, it said.

The DX (Device eXperience) division posted revenue of 52.7 trillion won and operating profit of 3.0 trillion won. The MX (Mobile eXperience) business saw both revenue and operating profit rise as the share of Galaxy S26 Ultra sales increased. VD (Visual Display) improved profitability on strong sales of premium and large TVs and operational efficiency gains.

For home appliances, the improvement in results was limited by rising costs and the impact of tariffs even though it launched new air conditioner products. The network business retreated from the previous quarter as major telecom operators reduced investment.

Harman posted revenue of 3.8 trillion won and operating profit of 200.0 billion won. The company cited constraints on memory supply, an off-peak season in the audio market and a cost burden including development expenses.

Display posted revenue of 6.7 trillion won and operating profit of 400.0 billion won. Demand from customers for small and medium-sized panels fell due to a seasonal off-peak period and the impact of memory prices, while large panels continued stable sales on strong demand for OLED gaming monitors.

◆Memory prices seen rising in Q2 as well; additional earnings improvement expected

Currency effects also helped results. The company said higher exchange rates for the dollar and other major currencies generated a positive effect of about 1.8 trillion won from the previous quarter, centered on the components business. Research and development spending to secure future growth engines totaled 11.3 trillion won in the first quarter alone.

The outlook for the second quarter is also bright. Additional earnings improvement is expected as memory prices continue to rise amid expanded investment in AI infrastructure. The memory business plans to supply the first samples of HBM4E and respond to initial memory demand for new GPUs and CPUs scheduled for release in the second half of the year. Foundry plans to continue winning advanced process orders based on its 2-nanometer technology capabilities.

The company said global tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty remain variables in the second half of the year. It expects a conflicting business environment as demand for AI semiconductors increases but costs for IT products rise. Samsung Electronics said it will maintain a stable management stance by responding flexibly to market changes while strengthening competitiveness in high value-added products.