Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest maker of memory chips, smartphones, and TVs, is expected to see a significant drop in its June-quarter profit, which could be the lowest in over 14 years.
The company's cash cow business of memory chips is expected to report losses due to falling prices and inventory values. The chip division's losses are estimated to be around 3 to 4 trillion won.
The decline in prices of DRAM memory chips, widely used in smartphones, PCs, and servers, is expected to hit bottom in the third quarter but may not recover until 2024.
Samsung is working to increase its share of chip demand in the field of artificial intelligence, such as with high bandwidth memory and chip contract manufacturing. However, Samsung's mobile business is likely to report an operating profit of around 3.3 trillion won, as marketing cost cuts offset a slight drop in smartphone shipments.
Samsung is expected to announce its latest foldable smartphones in Seoul this month, earlier than usual, to dominate the premium phone market before Apple's next iPhone release.
