What you need to know
- Samsung’s Q1 2026 revenue hit 133.9 trillion KRW (~$90B), jumping 43% quarter-over-quarter.
- Operating profit skyrocketed 753% YoY to 57.2 trillion KRW, driven mainly by semiconductors.
- AI demand is the real engine here, pushing record sales in Samsung’s memory division.
- Galaxy phones still bring in cash, but profits are slipping despite a premium-focused strategy.
Samsung has released its latest earnings, and the results are mixed. The company is making big profits from the global demand for AI memory chips, but its mobile division is struggling as the smartphone market slows down.
The company reported consolidated revenue of 133.9 trillion KRW (about $90 billion) for the first quarter of 2026. That’s a 43% increase from the previous quarter.
Samsung also reported 57.2 trillion KRW in operating profit, which is a 753% increase compared to last year. The primary driver of this surge was the semiconductor division, with additional contributions from Galaxy phones.
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The AI engine under the hood
Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division, which develops the memory used in many devices, earned 81.7 trillion KRW in revenue. The Memory Business set a new quarterly sales record, driven by the AI boom that is making traditional chips seem outdated.
Large tech companies and enterprise AI developers are seeking advanced AI memory. Samsung is meeting this demand by being the first to mass-produce HBM4 and SOCAMM2 for NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin platform. The company also released PCIe Gen6 SSDs as scheduled.
It’s important to note that limited supply and higher industry prices also boosted profits. However, Samsung’s focus on technical leadership helped the company benefit even more from this situation.
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
The MX division, which includes Galaxy phones, reported 38.1 trillion won in revenue. This is a 30% increase from last quarter, due to a focus on premium products and cost-cutting. However, operating profit fell by 34.88% compared to last year.
Additionally, Samsung acknowledges that the initial boost from their launch is fading. The company expects revenue to dip in the second quarter but plans to introduce new A-series devices and focus more on foldables later in 2026.
Android Central’s Take
It’s impressive that Samsung is making so much money. But what does this mean for consumers right now? Not much. You will likely still pay high prices for the next Galaxy foldable, and your current SSD will not become cheaper just because Samsung’s memory profits increased. Most of these benefits are felt at the corporate level.
Demand for AI memory continues to grow. Samsung will ship its first HBM4E samples in the second quarter to maintain its lead, and the company expects server memory demand to remain very high as agentic AI becomes more common.
The Foundry Business is preparing to increase 2nm chip production for mobile products in the second half of 2026. The goal is to produce faster and more efficient chips in future Galaxy devices.
