Samsung’s Profit Halves in Deepening Chip Business Crisis

Samsung Electronics Co.’s profit fell for the first time since 2023, reflecting the deepening market share losses clouding the memory chipmaker’s prospects in the AI era.

The company reported a sharper-than-anticipated 56% plummet in operating income for the June quarter, which it blamed on inventory writedowns following US curbs on Chinese-bound AI chips. Its shares swung between gains and losses in Seoul Tuesday after the company announced a 3.9 trillion won stock buyback.

The disappointing results underscore how South Korea’s largest company has ceded leadership in the AI market to SK Hynix Inc. in the post-ChatGPT infrastructure boom. ...