Seoul, Oct 8
Samsung Electronics on Tuesday estimated its third-quarter (Q3) operating profit nearly tripled, but missed market expectations due to the lukewarm performance of its high-end memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) computing.
The world's biggest maker of memory chips expected an operating profit of 9.1 trillion won ($6.8 billion) for the third quarter, up 274.5 per cent from a year earlier, Samsung Electronics said in a regulatory filing.
But operating profit retreated 12.8 per cent from three months earlier.
Revenue increased 17.2 per cent to a record 79 trillion won for the July-September period. The company did not disclose the data for net earnings in the guidance.
The operating profit was 11.7 per cent lower than the average estimate, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of News Agency.
Experts forecast that Samsung Electronics' lower-than-expected earnings report is attributable to sluggish shipment of memory chips due to contracting sales of smartphones and personal computers.
The company's slower performance in high-bandwidth memory business also weighed heavily on the third-quarter report.
Samsung Electronics' latest eight- and 12-layer HBM3E chips are currently undergoing quality tests by U.S. AI chip giant Nvidia Corp.
Its Korean rival SK hynix, however, has already begun supplying its 12-layer HBM3E products to Nvidia.
"Commercialisation of our HBM3E to major customers has been delayed compared to expectations," Samsung Electronics said in a statement. "Our device experience division performed better thanks to strong sales of flagship smartphones, and our display business improved to some extent due to new product launches."