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Samsung’s record profits and rising inequality

Published: 08 Apr. 2026, 00:00

Samsung Electronics' Seocho office in southern Seoul on April 7 [NEWS1]

Samsung Electronics posted record results in the first quarter, reporting 133 trillion won (about $88.7 billion) in revenue and 57.2 trillion won (about $38.1 billion) in operating profit, driven by a surge in semiconductor earnings.

Operating profit jumped 755 percent from a year earlier and exceeded the company’s entire annual operating profit for last year, which stood at 43.6 trillion won. At that scale, Samsung’s profit places it alongside the world’s top Big Tech firms such as Apple and Nvidia.

Some forecasts suggest Samsung’s annual operating profit could exceed 300 trillion won. That would amount to more than 40 percent of Korea’s national budget of 727.9 trillion won, meaning a single company could earn through business activity alone what amounts to a vast share of government spending. Such projections have prompted talk that Samsung is rewriting the history of Korean business.

Its strength has been especially visible in the current semiconductor supercycle. Samsung remains the only chipmaker with a full one-stop lineup spanning logic semiconductors such as graphics processing units, as well as memory, foundry and packaging.

Combined with its world-leading memory production capacity, that structure has allowed it to benefit fully from the latest boom in semiconductor demand.

At a time when the Korean economy is being squeezed by high oil prices, inflation and a weak won amid the Middle East war, the economy has managed to hold up in part because of strong semiconductor exports.

In this field, a silent war is underway among major powers. The United States is pushing to secure semiconductor leadership through tariffs and industrial support measures, while China is striving to raise its chip self-sufficiency rate to 80 percent by 2030. To stay ahead, Korea must preserve its technological edge, with government and business working closely.

Yet while semiconductors surge ahead, sectors such as machinery, steel, auto parts, home appliances and domestic consumption remain sluggish. Although listed companies’ operating profits rose 29.6 percent last year, that figure turns into a 3.7 percent decline if Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are excluded.

Economic polarization is worsening. Vulnerable groups will need stronger support, and the National Assembly must carefully assess whether a war-related supplementary budget is justified.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.