Samsung Electronics reported on Wednesday a sharp increase in consolidated revenue for the first quarter thanks to strong sales of its new smartphones, but its semiconductor business suffered a setback.
The South Korean semiconductor and smartphone giant said in a statement that it posted 79.14 trillion won (€49 billion) in consolidated revenue for the January-March quarter, calling it an all-time quarterly high.
It said its operating profit rose to 6.7 trillion won (€4.1bn), up from 6.61tn won in the same period last year.
Samsung attributed the results to strong sales of its flagship Galaxy S25 smartphone and other high-value-added products.
However, the operating profit of the company’s semiconductor business fell to 1.1tn won (€681.3 million) from 1.91tn won in the corresponding quarter last year.
The company said its profits were squeezed by falling average sale prices, as well as reduced demand for high-bandwidth memory as customers wait for the release of next-generation memory chips.
Samsung said in an earnings call that US tariffs could hit sales of its memory chips and smartphones, although added that the exact impact is uncertain.
US President Donald Trump said that he intends to place tariffs on semiconductors “very soon”.
Shares in Samsung Electronics had dropped around 0.5% at market close in South Korea.
