On July 30, Samsung Electronics reported Q2 revenue of KRW 171.5 trillion and operating profit of KRW 89.5 trillion ($~64 billion) – up 1,814% YoY and 56% QoQ – the highest quarterly profit in company history, exceeding even NVIDIA's and Apple's best quarters.

The semiconductor division delivered KRW 127.5 trillion in revenue and KRW 89.2 trillion in operating profit, accounting for 99.7% of total operating profit. DRAM and HBM prices surged for the second consecutive quarter – memory prices rose over 80% QoQ in Q1, followed by another 50%+ increase in Q2 – driven by relentless AI data center build-outs.

However, rising memory costs crushed Samsung's consumer electronics margins. The mobile business posted a KRW 700 billion operating loss – its first quarterly loss since the 2009 financial crisis – squeezed by higher component costs, competition from Chinese brands, and Apple's dominance at the high end.

SK Hynix also delivered stellar results: Q2 revenue KRW 79.3 trillion (+256.8% YoY), operating profit KRW 60.5 trillion (+557% YoY). But its stock fell ~9% after raising CAPEX by 50% to over KRW 45 trillion, fueling investor fears of future overcapacity and lack of shareholder return clarity.

The memory supercycle is lifting profitability to historic highs, but terminal hardware margins are bleeding – and the industry's aggressive capacity expansion casts a long shadow on the cycle's durability.

From ICgoodFind: Memory profits are sky-high, but the phone business is paying the price. The question now: can Samsung manage the split-personality economy – booming chips, bleeding devices – without losing balance.