Samsung flags eightfold jump in quarterly profit as AI chip demand pumps prices

Samsung Electronics projected its ​first-quarter earnings would exceed its entire profit for last year, beating expectations as booming demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure stretched supply and drove chip prices higher.

Samsung has ‌emerged as one of the major beneficiaries of the AI data centre boom that has constrained supply for traditional chips used in smartphones, PCs and game consoles and led to a near-doubling in chip prices in the first quarter alone.