Samsung Electronics is expecting a spectacular jump in quarterly profit.
Powered by one thing the tech industry cannot seem to get enough of: memory chips for artificial intelligence.
The South Korean giant forecasts operating profit of 107.4 trillion won (£61bn; $80bn) for the three months to September.
That is roughly nine times higher than a year earlier and would mark its fourth straight quarter of record earnings.
So what is driving the boom? AI data centres need huge amounts of memory chips to process the flood of information behind today’s AI systems.
Samsung, along with SK Hynix and US-based Micron, is among the major suppliers feeding that demand.
This includes chips used by companies such as Nvidia.
Samsung is also one of the world’s biggest smartphone makers.
AI Investment Accelerates
The global chip rush has also pushed prices higher, with shortages making devices such as smartphones and computers more expensive.
Samsung could receive another lift from its latest foldable phones, launched in August.
Behind the scenes, investment is accelerating. US tech giants including Google, Amazon and Meta plan to spend more than $650bn on AI projects this year.
South Korea has announced at least $880bn in chip-related projects involving Samsung and SK Hynix. Samsung’s full results arrive later this month.
Until then, one question remains: how long can the AI chip boom keep powering profits at this pace?
