Samsung Chip Profit Surges 49-Fold to $36.15B in Q1; Supply Shortage to Worsen in 2027

According to Samsung Electronics, the company's chip division operating profit surged 49-fold in the first quarter of 2026 to a record 53.7 trillion won ($36.15 billion), up from 1.1 trillion won a year earlier, on April 30. The memory chip boom was driven by accelerating AI data center construction and Nvidia's demand for advanced chips.

Samsung warned that the supply-to-demand gap for 2027 will widen further, with memory chip business executive Kim Jaejune stating: "Our supply falls far short of customer demand." The company has signed multi-year binding contracts with customers to secure orders amid sustained AI spending from tech majors including Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft.