South Korean tech big Samsung Electronics reported a better-than-expected 21.7 % rise in first-quarter web revenue on Wednesday as shoppers rushed to purchase smartphones underneath the looming risk of US tariffs.
The agency mentioned it anticipated improved earnings within the second half if “uncertainties are diminished”.
The outcomes come as Seoul and Washington work to craft a “trade package” meant to roll again US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs forward of the July 8 expiration of a reciprocal tariff freeze.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean big Samsung Group, by far the most important of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate enterprise in Asia’s fourth-largest financial system.
The world’s largest reminiscence chipmaker reported web revenue of 8.22 trillion gained ($5.75 billion) for the January–March quarter, up 21.7 % on-year.
Sales rose 10 % to an all-time quarterly excessive of 79.14 trillion gained and working revenue rose 1.2 % to six.7 trillion gained on-year, exceeding forecasts in line with Yonhap News Agency, which cited its personal monetary information agency.
South Korea — one of many United States’ key buying and selling companions and residential to powerhouse chip and auto industries — earlier this month additionally unveiled an extra $5 billion funding in its semiconductor trade, citing “growing uncertainty” stemming from US tariffs.
The figures had been “on the back of strong sales of flagship Galaxy S25 smartphones and high-value-added products,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
“Despite the growing macroeconomic uncertainties due to recent global trade tensions and slowing global economic growth,” Samsung mentioned it “expects its performance to improve in the second half of the year,” assuming “that the uncertainties are diminished”.
Analysts additionally attributed the ends in half to document gross sales of the brand new Galaxy S25 collection smartphone, which launched in February.
The agency’s “early introduction of AI features, beginning with the Galaxy S24 and enhanced further in the S25, gave it a strong competitive edge,” Sheng Win Chow, an analyst at Canalys, instructed AFP.
“The combination of native on-device AI capabilities and Google Gemini apps offered users a rich suite of AI functions right out of the box, creating strong pull factors for early adopters.”
But specialists expressed issues as greater than half of Samsung’s smartphones are manufactured in Vietnam, the place steep tariffs of as much as 46 % might be imposed if commerce negotiations between Washington and Hanoi break down.
