According to forecasts compiled by Yonhap Infomax, major South Korean chip manufacturing firms won’t be earning much in Q1 2023. Samsung, along with SK Hynix and others, are projected to have grim earnings in Q1 2023, all because of sluggish global chip demands.
Samsung Foundry is projected to have an operating profit of KRW 720 billion (roughly $549.7 million) in Q1 2023. This is down a staggering 94.9% (KRW 14.1 trillion or $10.69 billion) compared to Q1 2022. Moreover, Samsung’s January-March period year-over-year forecast has fallen by 17.3% to KRW 64.3 trillion (roughly $48.4 billion).
Samsung has a few plans to help boost its semiconductor chip business
This cloudy forecast is all thanks to the economic slowdown resulting in waning global semiconductor demand. The same fate is expected in the Q1 2023 profits of key South Korean petrochemical firms and steelmakers. As a result, Samsung and other companies are trying all they can to boost their semiconductor business.
Samsung is eyeing to bolster the core technologies necessary and is anticipating introducing ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-based chatbot system, for its chip business. The company is positive that the ChatGPT AI model and its services will prove fruitful for its chip business in the future. Samsung has also announced plans for a $230 billion investment to build five new memory and foundry fabs in South Korea.
