Samsung’s AI chip revenue hit from US curbs
Jul 8, 2025
Samsung's AI Chip Revenue Takes a $1.6 Billion Hit from US-China Trade Curbs
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, is struggling from a 56% drop in Q2 2025 operating profit—its biggest decline in six quarters—as US restrictions on AI chip exports to China and delays in supplying high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to Nvidia hurt its semiconductor division.
Here's how the US-China tech war and AI supply chain problems are changing Samsung's situation—and what happens next.
Key Factors Behind Samsung's AI Chip Revenue Crash
US Export Bans on Advanced AI Chips to China
$3.3B profit miss: Samsung's operating profit dropped to ₩4.6 trillion ($3.3B), way below the ₩6.3 trillion analysts expected.
China reliance backfires: 30% of Samsung's chip sales depend on China, where US sanctions blocked shipments of advanced AI processors. Factories ran at low capacity, forcing inventory writedowns.
Nvidia HBM Supply Delays
Samsung's 12-layer HBM3E chips, supposed to get June 2025 certification, missed deadlines. Nvidia—which buys 70% of global HBM—still hasn't approved them, leaving SK Hynix as the main supplier.
AMD and Broadcom deals helped reduce the damage but couldn't make up for the Nvidia gap.
Foundry Business Collapse
₩4 trillion ($2.9B) loss in H1 2025 due to weak orders and competition with TSMC. US curbs on AI chips for China made low utilization rates worse.
Samsung's Recovery Plan
Q3 2025 rebound hopes: Memory chip prices are rising, and HBM shipments to AMD/Broadcom may grow.
Foundry fixes: Higher utilization and 2nm chip production aim to reduce losses.
Galaxy S25 launch: AI-powered smartphones could offset chip declines, but tariffs are a concern.
Analyst Take: "Samsung's future depends on passing Nvidia's HBM tests. Until then, SK Hynix and Micron lead the AI gold rush." — Ray Wang, Futurum Group.
