Today, Samsung released its detailed financial results for the first quarter of 2024, showing a promising return to form for the company. The Korean giant reported an operating profit of KRW6.61 trillion ($4.85 billion), a significant tenfold increase from the same period last year.
The strong sales of flagship Galaxy S24 phones and higher prices for memory semiconductors were cited as key factors contributing to the return to 2022 profit levels. Overall revenue also exceeded expectations with a 13% rise.
The Mobile Experience (MX) business saw growth in revenue despite a market decline. While demand for premium and mid-range smartphones decreased seasonally, the Galaxy S24 phones maintained a “solid double-digit profitability” through resource optimization efforts.
Galaxy AI features like Circle to Search continued to be popular and drove sales growth, as mentioned in the official press release.
For the second quarter, Samsung expects an overall sequential decline in demand. The MX division plans to continue its flagship-oriented sales strategy by integrating the Galaxy S24’s AI experience into other flagship models to enhance product competitiveness.
The demand for generative AI remained robust, with strong interest in DDR5 and high-density SSDs, leading the memory business to profitability. Samsung anticipates this trend will persist in the second quarter of the year despite potential volatility related to macroeconomic and geopolitical issues.