In the first half of this year, Samsung Electronics' sales in China decreased due to U.S. sanctions against China, local economic slowdown, and intensified competition, while in the United States, sales increased due to rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and expansion of investments centered around big tech.
According to the semi-annual report released by Samsung Electronics on the 17th, export sales to China in the first half of the year were 28.7918 trillion won, approximately 11% lower than the same period last year (32.3452 trillion won). While sales by business segment were not specified, the industry reports that most of the exports to China are semiconductor products. The semiconductors supplied by Samsung Electronics to China include LPDDR, NAND, image sensors, display driver chips (DDI), and high bandwidth memory (HBM).
During the same period, export sales to the United States were 33.4759 trillion won, surpassing those to China. In comparison, sales in China had exceeded those in the United States at the end of last year, thanks to the Chinese government's "old for new" policy, indicating a reversal of the situation in just six months.
The performance of production and sales subsidiaries in China was also sluggish. The sales and operating profit of the NAND flash production subsidiary, Samsung China Semiconductor (SCS), in the first half were 4.4146 trillion won and 533.6 billion won, respectively, down from the previous year. The sales of the sales subsidiary, Shanghai Samsung Semiconductor (SSS), also decreased from 15.8779 trillion won to 12.3457 trillion won, with operating profit dropping from 232.2 billion won to 193.8 billion won. The industry cites the weakening of the "old for new" effect, delayed economic recovery, the expansion of local company CXMT's market share, and strengthened sanctions from the United States as major causes.
In contrast, the AI investment boom in the United States drove strong performance. The sales of Samsung Austin Semiconductor (SAS) in Austin, Texas, in the first half were 2.2968 trillion won, and operating profit was 423.8 billion won, increasing 5.6% and 65.3%, respectively, from the previous year. The sales of Samsung Semiconductor (SSI) in the United States also increased by 28.2%, from 17.7267 trillion won to 22.7204 trillion won. The industry sees this as a reflection of the expanded investment in data centers and AI servers by big tech and the success in securing foundry customers.