Samsung Electronics

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<div style="color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.4em; margin: 3px 0 1px 0;">Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.</div>
<div style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 0.92em;">삼성전자 주식회사</div>
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| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 0;" | ![[Samsung-logo.svg|380px|alt=The Samsung wordmark]]
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center; width: 36%;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Formerly
| Samsung Electronics Industry Co., Ltd.<ref name="report">Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., ''Business Report'' for the year ended December 31, 2025 (official English translation). [https://images.samsung.com/is/content/samsung/assets/global/ir/docs/2025_4Q_Interim_Report.pdf samsung.com/global/ir]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Type
| Public company<ref name="report" />
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Traded as
| KRX: 005930<ref name="report" />
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Founded
| 13 January 1969<ref name="report" />
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;"
! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Headquarters
| Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea<ref name="report" />
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;"
! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Industry
| Consumer electronics<br>Semiconductors<ref name="report" />
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Products
| [[Dynamic random-access memory|DRAM]]<br>[[Flash memory|NAND flash memory]]<br>[[High Bandwidth Memory]]<br>Smartphones<br>Televisions<br>Home appliances<ref name="report" />
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| colspan="2" | {{Collapse|text="'''[ More details ▾ ]'''"|color="#1428A0"|style="width:100%;"}}
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;"
! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center; width: 36%;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Key people
| Lee Jae-yong (Executive Chairman)<ref name="chairman">"Jay Y. Lee Appointed Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), October 27, 2022. [https://news.samsung.com/global/jay-y-lee-appointed-samsung-electronics-executive-chairman news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><br>Jun Young-hyun (Co-CEO, chips)<br>Roh Tae-moon (Co-CEO, devices)<br>Shin Je-yoon (Chair of the board)<ref name="board">"Board of Directors." ''Samsung Electronics Investor Relations'' (official). [https://www.samsung.com/global/ir/governance-csr/board-of-directors/ samsung.com/global/ir]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Revenue
| ₩333.6 trillion (FY2025)<ref name="fy25">"Samsung Electronics Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2025 Results." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), January 29, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-fourth-quarter-and-fy-2025-results news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Operating profit
| ₩43.6 trillion (FY2025)<ref name="fy25" />
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Employees
| About 259,000 in 76 countries (2025)<ref name="facts">"Fast Facts." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/ph/fast-facts news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Parent
| None. Part of [[Samsung Group]]{{Note|Samsung Group has no holding company. The Lee family controls Samsung Electronics indirectly, through stakes held by Samsung C&T and Samsung Life Insurance.}}<ref name="agm">"Reference Material for the 56th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders." ''Samsung Electronics'' (official), 2025. [https://images.samsung.com/is/content/samsung/assets/global/ir/docs/2025_SEC_AGMReferenceMaterial_vF.pdf samsung.com/global/ir]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
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! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Subsidiaries
| Samsung Display<br>[[Harman International]]<ref name="fy25" />
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!style="background-color: #1428A0; color: #fff;"|Headquarters
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|style="padding: 0;"|![[SamsungElectronics-suwon-hq.jpg|alt=Aerial view of the glass office towers at Samsung's Suwon campus, with the Samsung name on the roof of the tallest building]]
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|style="text-align: center; padding: 2px 6px 6px 6px;"|<div style="color: #666; font-size: 0.82em;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #666 55%, #f5f5f7);">The Suwon campus in Gyeonggi Province — the company's registered head office and its main research site</div>
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|style="padding: 0;"|{{Googlemap|place="Samsung Electronics, Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea"}}
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!style="background-color: #1428A0; color: #fff;"|Official links
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|style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em;"|[https://www.samsung.com/ Homepage] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">&#124;</span> [https://news.samsung.com/global/ Newsroom] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">&#124;</span> [https://semiconductor.samsung.com/ Semiconductor] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">&#124;</span> [https://www.youtube.com/@Samsung YouTube] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">&#124;</span> [https://www.instagram.com/samsung/ Instagram] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">&#124;</span> [https://www.linkedin.com/company/samsung-electronics/ LinkedIn]<ref name="site">"Samsung Electronics." ''Samsung'' (official) — site footer channel links. [https://www.samsung.com/ samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
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{{ Samsung Navbox }}

'''Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.''' (삼성전자 주식회사) is a South Korean company that makes memory chips, smartphones, televisions, display panels and home appliances. It is the largest company in South Korea by revenue and the biggest member of [[Samsung Group]], the country's largest business group. Its registered head office is in Suwon, about 30 kilometres south of Seoul.<ref name="report" />

The business is split into two halves. Device Solutions, usually shortened to DS, makes semiconductors: [[Dynamic random-access memory|DRAM]], [[Flash memory|NAND flash memory]] and [[High Bandwidth Memory]], plus chips made to order for other companies. Device eXperience, or DX, makes the finished products people buy — Galaxy phones, televisions, fridges and washing machines. Two subsidiaries sit alongside them: Samsung Display, which makes screens, and [[Harman International]], which makes car audio and dashboard systems.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="q126">"Samsung Electronics Announces First Quarter 2026 Results." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), April 30, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-first-quarter-2026-results news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Samsung was founded in January 1969 as Samsung Electronics Industry, assembling radios and televisions. It entered the chip business in the 1980s and became the world's largest maker of memory chips in the mid-1990s, a position it has held for most of the time since. It has also been the world's best-selling television brand every year since 2006, and it has vied with [[Apple]] for first place in smartphones for more than a decade.<ref name="report" /><ref name="tv20">"Samsung Electronics Marks 20 Consecutive Years as the World's No.1 TV Brand." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), March 8, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-marks-20-consecutive-years-as-the-worlds-no-1-tv-brand news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom that began in 2023 sent memory prices sharply higher and made the chip half of the company far more valuable than the rest. Samsung reported revenue of ₩333.6 trillion and an operating profit of ₩43.6 trillion for 2025. In the first quarter of 2026 alone it earned an operating profit of ₩57.2 trillion — more than the whole of the previous year.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="q126" />

== History ==

=== Beginnings (1969–1982) ===

Samsung Group was founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul as a trading firm in Daegu. Samsung Electronics Industry was set up on 13 January 1969 to make consumer electronics, starting with black-and-white televisions and radios built under licence from Japanese partners.<ref name="report" /><ref name="hist69">"The History of Samsung Electronics (1): Paving a New Path (1968–1970)." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/global/the-history-of-samsung-electronics-1-paving-a-new-path-19681970 news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The shares were listed on the Korea Stock Exchange in Seoul on 11 June 1975 and have traded there ever since.<ref name="report" />

Samsung bought a small chipmaker, Korea Semiconductor, in 1974. For nearly a decade the venture went nowhere.<ref name="tokyo">"Samsung Marks 40th Anniversary of 'Tokyo Declaration'." ''BusinessKorea'', 2023. [https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=109024 businesskorea.co.kr]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== Into memory chips (1983–1999) ===

On 8 February 1983, from a hotel in Tokyo, Lee Byung-chul telephoned Seoul to say that Samsung would enter the semiconductor business whatever it cost. The call is remembered in Korea as the Tokyo Declaration. Samsung built a chip plant in six months, against an industry norm of about eighteen, and produced a 64K DRAM chip later that year. Korea became the third country able to make one, after the United States and Japan.<ref name="tokyo" />

The gamble took a decade to pay off. Samsung developed the world's first 256-megabit DRAM in August 1994 and became the largest memory chip maker soon afterwards.<ref name="dram256">"History of Samsung (11): Adoption of New Corporate Identity and Development of the World's First 256-Mega DRAM Semiconductor (1993–1997)." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/global/history-of-samsung-11-adoption-of-new-corporate-identity-and-development-of-worlds-first-256-mega-dram-semiconductor-1993-1997 news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Its two main domestic rivals, Hyundai Electronics and [[LG Semicon]], were pushed together into a single company by the government after the 1997 Asian financial crisis; that company is today [[SK hynix]].<ref name="skhynix-hist">"History." ''SK hynix'' (official). [https://www.skhynix.com/company/UI-FR-CP05/ skhynix.com/company]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== Phones, screens and the rise to the top (2000–2016) ===

Samsung spent the 2000s turning a reputation for cheap products into a reputation for good ones. It became the world's best-selling television brand in 2006 and has stayed there every year since.<ref name="tv20" /> The Galaxy line of Android phones, launched in 2010, grew into the best-selling smartphone range in the world.

In November 2016 Samsung agreed to buy [[Harman International]], an American maker of car audio and dashboard electronics, for about US$8 billion. It remains the company's largest acquisition. Harman also owns the JBL, Harman Kardon and AKG audio brands.<ref name="harman">"Samsung Electronics to Acquire HARMAN, Accelerating Growth in Automotive and Connected Technologies." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), November 14, 2016. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-to-acquire-harman-accelerating-growth-in-automotive-and-connected-technologies news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

That same year brought the worst product failure in the company's history. The Galaxy Note7, launched in August 2016, began catching fire. Samsung replaced the phones, the replacements caught fire too, and in October it stopped making the model altogether. About a million units were recalled in the United States alone. An investigation announced in January 2017 blamed two separate manufacturing faults in the batteries, from two different suppliers.<ref name="note7">"Samsung Electronics Announces Cause of Galaxy Note7 Incidents in Press Conference." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), January 2017. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-cause-of-galaxy-note7-incidents-in-press-conference news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="cpsc">Kaye, Elliot F. "Statement from Chairman Elliot F. Kaye on Samsung Galaxy Note7." ''U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission'' (official), January 24, 2017. [https://www.cpsc.gov/about-cpsc/chairman/elliot-f-kaye/statements/statement-from-chairman-elliot-f-kaye-samsung-galaxy cpsc.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== Court cases and succession (2016–2022) ===

Samsung was also caught up in the political scandal that removed South Korea's president, Park Geun-hye, from office. Lee Jae-yong, the grandson of the founder, was arrested in February 2017 and convicted of bribery. He was released on parole in August 2021, having served about eighteen months, and pardoned by President Yoon Suk-yeol a year later.<ref name="parole">"Samsung's Jay Y. Lee released on parole, apologizes for causing public concern." ''CNBC'', August 13, 2021. [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/paroled-samsung-heir-apologizes-for-causing-public-concern-.html cnbc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="pardon">"South Korea's president pardons Samsung leader Jay Y. Lee." ''CNBC'', August 12, 2022. [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/12/south-koreas-president-pardons-samsung-leader-jay-y-lee.html cnbc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Lee Kun-hee, who had led Samsung since 1987, died in October 2020. His heirs faced an inheritance tax bill of more than US$10 billion, reported at the time as the largest in Korean history, payable in instalments over five years.<ref name="tax">"Samsung inheritance: Lee family to pay over $10 billion inheritance tax." ''CNBC'', April 28, 2021. [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/28/samsung-inheritance-lee-family-to-pay-over-10-billion-inheritance-tax.html cnbc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Lee Jae-yong became executive chairman in October 2022.<ref name="chairman" />

A second case ran alongside the first. Prosecutors argued that a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates had been rigged to help Lee take control of the group, and charged him with accounting fraud and stock manipulation. He was acquitted in February 2024, the acquittal was upheld on appeal, and the Supreme Court settled the matter in his favour in July 2025.<ref name="acquit">"South Korea's top court acquits Samsung chief of fraud charges." ''UPI'', July 17, 2025. [https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/07/17/korea-Lee-Jae-yong-Samsung-chairman-acquitted-fraud-South-Korea-Supreme-Court/5441752737307/ upi.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== The AI memory boom (2023–present) ===

The rise of AI from 2023 changed the memory business. Data centres needed enormous quantities of a specialised product, [[High Bandwidth Memory|HBM]], and Samsung was slow to deliver it. Its HBM3E chips took more than a year to pass NVIDIA's tests, finally clearing them in September 2025, by which time [[SK hynix]] had taken most of the market.<ref name="hbm3e">"Samsung clears Nvidia hurdle for 12-layer HBM3E supply." ''KED Global'', September 19, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202509190008 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Ordinary memory then rescued the year. Contract prices for DRAM roughly doubled between late 2025 and early 2026, and Samsung, which sells more standard memory than its rivals, benefited most. It regained the lead in DRAM revenue in the last quarter of 2025 after losing it to SK hynix earlier that year.<ref name="tf-dram">"Rapid Contract Price Surge Drives 1Q26 DRAM Industry Up 81% QoQ." ''TrendForce'', June 1, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20260601-13070.html trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> In February 2026 it began shipping HBM4, the next generation, and said it expected HBM sales to more than triple during the year.<ref name="hbm4">"Samsung Ships Industry-First Commercial HBM4 With Ultimate Performance for AI Computing." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), February 12, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-ships-industry-first-commercial-hbm4-with-ultimate-performance-for-ai-computing news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

The company also lost one of its two chief executives. Han Jong-hee, who ran the consumer products half of the business, died of a heart attack in March 2025 at the age of 63.<ref name="hanjh">"Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-Hee dies at 63." ''CNN'', March 24, 2025. [https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/24/tech/samsung-co-ceo-han-jong-hee-death-intl-hnk cnn.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Samsung ran with a single chief executive until November 2025, when it restored the two-CEO arrangement and named Roh Tae-moon to the vacant post.<ref name="ceos">"Samsung bolsters technology leadership with engineer-heavy executive reshuffle." ''KED Global'', November 21, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/leadership-management/newsView/ked202511210011 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Chips ==

=== Memory ===

Memory is Samsung's largest and most profitable business. It leads both of the two main kinds. Counterpoint Research put its share of DRAM revenue at 38% in the first quarter of 2026, ahead of SK hynix on 29%, and its share of NAND flash at 29%, the largest of six suppliers.<ref name="cp-dram">"Global DRAM and HBM Market Share: Quarterly." ''Counterpoint Research'', 2026. [https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-dram-and-hbm-market-share counterpointresearch.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="cp-nand">"Global NAND Memory Market Share: Quarterly." ''Counterpoint Research'', 2026. [https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-nand-memory-market-share counterpointresearch.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Chipmakers compete by shrinking the patterns printed on each wafer. Samsung was the first to use extreme ultraviolet light, known as EUV, to print DRAM in volume, shipping its first million EUV-made modules in March 2020.<ref name="euv">"Samsung Announces Industry's First EUV DRAM With Shipment of First Million Modules." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), March 25, 2020. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-announces-industrys-first-euv-dram-with-shipment-of-first-million-modules news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Its current products cover most uses of memory: DDR5 for servers, GDDR7 for graphics cards, and the low-power LPDDR family for phones and AI machines.

NAND flash stores data permanently, and is built by stacking layers on top of one another. Samsung began mass-producing its ninth generation of stacked NAND, with 286 layers, in 2024, and showed a design with more than 400 layers at a technical conference in February 2025.<ref name="vnand">"Samsung Begins Industry's First Mass Production of QLC 9th-Gen V-NAND for AI Era." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-begins-industrys-first-mass-production-of-qlc-9th-gen-v-nand-for-ai-era news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== High Bandwidth Memory ===

HBM is DRAM stacked in layers and wired vertically, so that data moves much faster than it can across a flat chip. It is the memory AI accelerators use, and it is the one part of the memory market where Samsung has not led. SK hynix reached each of the HBM3 and HBM3E milestones first, and Samsung struggled for over a year to get its own HBM3E accepted by NVIDIA, the largest buyer.<ref name="hbm3e" />

Samsung says it was the first to ship commercial HBM4, in February 2026. The chips stack twelve layers, hold up to 36 gigabytes, and move up to 3.3 terabytes of data a second — about two and a half times the previous generation.<ref name="hbm4" /> Reports through the first half of 2026 disagreed about how much of NVIDIA's HBM4 order Samsung had actually won, and neither company had confirmed a figure by July 2026.<ref name="tf-hbm4">"SK hynix Reportedly to Supply About Two-Thirds of NVIDIA HBM4; Samsung Targets Early Delivery." ''TrendForce'', January 28, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/01/28/news-sk-hynix-reportedly-to-supply-about-two-thirds-of-nvidia-hbm4-samsung-targets-early-delivery/ trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== Foundry ===

A foundry makes chips that other companies design. Samsung is the only firm in the world that runs a large foundry and a large memory business at the same time, but the foundry is a distant second to Taiwan's [[TSMC]]. TrendForce put TSMC at 72% of foundry revenue in the first quarter of 2026 and Samsung at 6.5%.<ref name="tf-foundry">"Strong AI Demand and Early Consumer Electronics Inventory Build Drive Top 10 Foundries to 3.7% QoQ Revenue Growth in 1Q26." ''TrendForce'', June 12, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20260612-13095.html trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Samsung was first in the industry to mass-produce chips using gate-all-around transistors, a new switch design, at its 3-nanometre node in June 2022.<ref name="gaa">"Samsung Begins Chip Production Using 3nm Process Technology With GAA Architecture." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), June 30, 2022. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-begins-chip-production-using-3nm-process-technology-with-gaa-architecture news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The foundry has nonetheless lost money every year since 2022, and its head said in June 2026 that a full profitable year was unlikely before 2028.<ref name="foundry-profit">"Samsung Foundry Chief Sets 2028 for Annual Profit, Tempering Talk of a 2026 Rebound." ''Tech Times'', June 14, 2026. [https://www.techtimes.com/articles/318311/20260614/samsung-foundry-chief-sets-2028-annual-profit-tempering-talk-2026-rebound.htm techtimes.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Its largest win came in July 2025, when Tesla agreed to buy US$16.5 billion of chips through to the end of 2033, to be made at Samsung's new plant in Texas.<ref name="tesla">"Samsung clinches $16.5 billion chipmaking deal from Tesla." ''KED Global'', July 28, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202507280001 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Phones, televisions and appliances ==

=== Phones ===

Samsung and Apple have traded the lead in smartphones for years, and the gap between them is small. Apple sold slightly more phones than Samsung over the whole of 2025; Samsung was ahead again in the first quarter of 2026, with 62.4 million shipments to Apple's 61.8 million.<ref name="idc">"Smartphone Market Share." ''International Data Corporation'' (IDC), Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, June 23, 2026. [https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/ idc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

The Galaxy S series is the flagship line. Samsung also makes folding phones — the Z Fold, which opens into a small tablet, and the Z Flip, which folds shut like a compact. Since the Galaxy S24 in 2024 the phones have been sold on their AI features, under the name Galaxy AI. The Galaxy S26 range was announced in San Francisco in February 2026.<ref name="s26">"Galaxy Unpacked 2026: A First Look at the Galaxy S26 Series." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), February 25, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/galaxy-unpacked-2026-a-first-look-at-the-galaxy-s26-series-samsungs-most-intuitive-ai-phone-yet news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Samsung is unusual in designing its own phone processors, called Exynos, while also buying processors from Qualcomm. Which chip a Galaxy phone contains depends on the model and on the country it is sold in.

=== Televisions and home appliances ===

Samsung has been the world's best-selling television brand every year since 2006 — twenty years in a row — with 29.1% of television revenue worldwide in 2025.<ref name="tv20" /> The same division makes fridges, washing machines, air conditioners and ovens. It is the weakest part of the company by profit: in the last quarter of 2025 the television and appliance business lost ₩0.6 trillion, while every other division made money.<ref name="fy25" />

=== Screens, sound and networks ===

Samsung Display, a subsidiary, makes the OLED panels used in phones and televisions. Apple is among its customers: it was reported in 2025 as the sole screen supplier for Apple's folding iPhone.<ref name="sdc-apple">"Samsung Display picked as sole OLED supplier for foldable iPhone." ''KED Global'', April 14, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/tech,-media-telecom/newsView/ked202504140001 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The division brought in ₩6.7 trillion of revenue in the first quarter of 2026.<ref name="q126" />

Harman, bought in 2016, sells car audio systems, dashboard displays and consumer audio. It recorded revenue of about ₩15.8 trillion in 2025, reported as its best year since the takeover.<ref name="harman" /><ref name="harman25">"Harman hits KRW15.78tn revenue 10 years after Samsung acquisition." ''DigiTimes'', April 24, 2026. [https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20260424PD230/samsung-harman-revenue-adas.html digitimes.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Samsung also sells mobile network equipment, competing with Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei. Its best-known contract is a US$6.6 billion agreement signed with Verizon in 2020. The business has shrunk since: revenue in the first quarter of 2026 fell by a quarter from a year earlier, to about ₩0.6 trillion.<ref name="networks">Morris, Iain. "Samsung Networks has one of its worst quarters since 5G was born." ''Light Reading'', May 1, 2026. [https://www.lightreading.com/5g/samsung-networks-has-one-of-its-worst-quarters-since-5g-was-born lightreading.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Factories ==

Chip factories are called fabs. Samsung's are concentrated in the south-west of Gyeonggi Province, within an hour or so of Seoul.

* '''Giheung and Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province''' — the older campuses, and the site of the company's semiconductor research centre. Hwaseong received Samsung's first High-NA EUV machine, the most advanced chipmaking tool built, in 2025.<ref name="highna">"Samsung Reportedly Holds Back High-NA EUV Mass Production to Contain Costs Ahead of Foundry Turnaround." ''TrendForce'', July 17, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/07/17/news-samsung-reportedly-holds-back-high-na-euv-mass-production-to-contain-costs-ahead-of-foundry-turnaround/ trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
* '''Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province''' — the company's main memory site, built in phases known as P1 to P5. P4 is being fitted out for the newest DRAM and for HBM4. In May 2026 Samsung said it would bring the next stage of the expansion forward by six months to keep up with AI demand.<ref name="p5">"Samsung to advance mega-fab expansion by 6 months." ''KED Global'', May 7, 2026. [https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202605070006 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
* '''Onyang and Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province''' — packaging plants, where finished wafers are cut up and assembled into chips. Both are being expanded for HBM, which is far harder to package than ordinary memory.<ref name="onyang">"Samsung Expands Onyang Campus to Boost Chip Packaging Capacity." ''Seoul Economic Daily'', April 22, 2026. [https://en.sedaily.com/business/2026/04/22/samsung-expands-onyang-campus-to-boost-chip-packaging sedaily.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
* '''Taylor, Texas, United States''' — a foundry site announced in 2021 and repeatedly delayed. Samsung skipped a planned process node to go straight to 2 nanometres, and now expects production in 2027. It was awarded up to US$4.745 billion under the American CHIPS and Science Act.<ref name="nist">"Samsung Electronics — Texas (Taylor)." ''National Institute of Standards and Technology, CHIPS Program Office'' (official). [https://www.nist.gov/chips/samsung-electronics-texas-taylor nist.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="taylor">"Samsung Accelerates U.S. Expansion as Taylor Fab Targets 2027 Start." ''TrendForce'', June 2, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/06/02/news-samsung-accelerates-u-s-expansion-as-taylor-fab-targets-2027-start-hq-reportedly-moves-to-texas-in-2026/ trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
* '''Xi'an, China''' — two NAND flash fabs, among the largest of their kind anywhere.

A national cluster is also being built at Yongin, south of Seoul, where Samsung plans several fabs on a single site. Its first Yongin plant has been brought forward to 2029.<ref name="yongin">"Korea Pushes to Fast-Track Yongin Chip Cluster by a Decade." ''Seoul Economic Daily'', June 24, 2026. [https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/06/24/korea-pushes-to-fast-track-yongin-chip-cluster-by-a-decade sedaily.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

The Chinese fabs became a regulatory problem in 2025. American rules govern which chipmaking equipment may be sold to factories in China. Samsung had held a standing permit covering its Chinese sites; the United States revoked it with effect from 31 December 2025 and replaced it with an annual approval process.<ref name="veu">"Revocation of Validated End-User Authorizations in the People's Republic of China." ''Federal Register'', September 2, 2025. [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/02/2025-16735/revocation-of-validated-end-user-authorizations-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china federalregister.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Ownership and management ==

Samsung Electronics has no parent company. Instead the founding family controls it through a chain of stakes held by other Samsung firms. At the end of 2024 the largest shareholders were Samsung Life Insurance with 8.6%, the National Pension Service — South Korea's state pension fund — with 7.3%, and Samsung C&T with 5.0%. The Lee family's own direct holdings are much smaller; their influence comes from controlling Samsung C&T, which in turn holds much of Samsung Life.<ref name="agm" />

Lee Jae-yong has been executive chairman since October 2022. He is not a member of the board.<ref name="chairman" /> Day-to-day management is split between two chief executives: Jun Young-hyun runs the chip business, and Roh Tae-moon runs everything else. The board is chaired by Shin Je-yoon, an independent director — someone who is not an employee of the company — and five of its eight seats are held by independents.<ref name="board" /><ref name="ceos" />

== Finances ==

Figures are as reported by the company. One trillion won is roughly US$700 million.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="q126" />

{|
|+ Revenue and profit (₩ trillion)
|-
! Period !! Revenue !! Operating profit
|-
| FY2024 || 300.9 || 32.7
|-
| FY2025 || 333.6 || 43.6
|-
| 1Q 2026 || 133.9 || 57.2
|}

Both 2025 figures were records, and both were beaten inside a single quarter the following year. The chip division supplied most of the difference: it earned ₩53.7 trillion of the ₩57.2 trillion operating profit in the first quarter of 2026, on revenue of ₩81.7 trillion.<ref name="q126" /> Samsung's guidance for the second quarter, published on 7 July 2026, put revenue at about ₩171 trillion and operating profit at about ₩89.4 trillion.<ref name="q226">"Samsung Electronics Announces Earnings Guidance for Second Quarter 2026." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), July 7, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-earnings-guidance-for-second-quarter-2026 news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

The company spent a record ₩37.7 trillion on research and development in 2025.<ref name="fy25" />

== Market position ==

Gartner ranked Samsung the second-largest semiconductor company in the world for 2025, with revenue of US$72.5 billion, behind NVIDIA and ahead of SK hynix.<ref name="gartner">"Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 21% in 2025." ''Gartner'', January 12, 2026. [https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-01-12-gartner-says-worldwide-semiconductor-revenue-grew-21-percent-in-2025 gartner.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> It leads the world in DRAM, in NAND flash, in televisions and in OLED screens, and is second in HBM and in foundry work.<ref name="cp-dram" /><ref name="cp-nand" /><ref name="tv20" /><ref name="tf-foundry" />

Samsung is normally the most valuable company on the Korean stock market by a wide margin, and it is large enough that its share price moves the national index on its own. In June 2026 SK hynix briefly overtook it for the first time, on the strength of that company's HBM lead, before Samsung regained the position within days.<ref name="mcap">"SK Hynix briefly tops Samsung as Korea's most valuable company." ''Fortune'', June 23, 2026. [https://fortune.com/2026/06/23/sk-hynix-samsung-semiconductors-south-korea-most-valuable-company/ fortune.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== See also ==

{{ Samsung Navbox }}
{{ World's 10 largest semiconductor companies Navbox }}

* [[Samsung Group]]
* [[SK hynix]]
* [[LG Semicon]]
* [[Dynamic random-access memory]]
* [[Flash memory]]
* [[High Bandwidth Memory]]
* [[Micron Technology]]
* [[TSMC]]

Loading editor…

{| cellpadding="7" style="max-width: 400px; width: 100%; border: 2px solid #1428A0; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 0.9em; float: left;" |- | colspan="2" style="background: #1428A0; text-align: center; padding: 10px 8px 12px 8px; border-bottom: 2px solid #1428A0;" | <div style="color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.4em; margin: 3px 0 1px 0;">Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.</div> <div style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 0.92em;">삼성전자 주식회사</div> |- | colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 0;" | ![[Samsung-logo.svg|380px|alt=The Samsung wordmark]] |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center; width: 36%;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Formerly | Samsung Electronics Industry Co., Ltd.<ref name="report">Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., ''Business Report'' for the year ended December 31, 2025 (official English translation). [https://images.samsung.com/is/content/samsung/assets/global/ir/docs/2025_4Q_Interim_Report.pdf samsung.com/global/ir]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Type | Public company<ref name="report" /> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Traded as | KRX: 005930<ref name="report" /> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Founded | 13 January 1969<ref name="report" /> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Headquarters | Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea<ref name="report" /> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Industry | Consumer electronics<br>Semiconductors<ref name="report" /> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Products | [[Dynamic random-access memory|DRAM]]<br>[[Flash memory|NAND flash memory]]<br>[[High Bandwidth Memory]]<br>Smartphones<br>Televisions<br>Home appliances<ref name="report" /> |- | colspan="2" | {{Collapse|text="'''[ More details ▾ ]'''"|color="#1428A0"|style="width:100%;"}} |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center; width: 36%;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Key people | Lee Jae-yong (Executive Chairman)<ref name="chairman">"Jay Y. Lee Appointed Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), October 27, 2022. [https://news.samsung.com/global/jay-y-lee-appointed-samsung-electronics-executive-chairman news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><br>Jun Young-hyun (Co-CEO, chips)<br>Roh Tae-moon (Co-CEO, devices)<br>Shin Je-yoon (Chair of the board)<ref name="board">"Board of Directors." ''Samsung Electronics Investor Relations'' (official). [https://www.samsung.com/global/ir/governance-csr/board-of-directors/ samsung.com/global/ir]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Revenue | ₩333.6 trillion (FY2025)<ref name="fy25">"Samsung Electronics Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2025 Results." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), January 29, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-fourth-quarter-and-fy-2025-results news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Operating profit | ₩43.6 trillion (FY2025)<ref name="fy25" /> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Employees | About 259,000 in 76 countries (2025)<ref name="facts">"Fast Facts." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/ph/fast-facts news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> |- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1f3;" darkstyle="border-color: #2c2c2e;" ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Parent | None. Part of [[Samsung Group]]{{Note|Samsung Group has no holding company. The Lee family controls Samsung Electronics indirectly, through stakes held by Samsung C&T and Samsung Life Insurance.}}<ref name="agm">"Reference Material for the 56th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders." ''Samsung Electronics'' (official), 2025. [https://images.samsung.com/is/content/samsung/assets/global/ir/docs/2025_SEC_AGMReferenceMaterial_vF.pdf samsung.com/global/ir]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> |- ! scope="row" style="color: #1428A0; text-align: center;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #1428A0 55%, #f5f5f7);" | Subsidiaries | Samsung Display<br>[[Harman International]]<ref name="fy25" /> {{Endcollapse}} |} {|class="wikitable" style="max-width: 400px; width: 100%; border: 2px solid #1428A0; float: right" |- !style="background-color: #1428A0; color: #fff;"|Headquarters |- |style="padding: 0;"|![[SamsungElectronics-suwon-hq.jpg|alt=Aerial view of the glass office towers at Samsung's Suwon campus, with the Samsung name on the roof of the tallest building]] |- |style="text-align: center; padding: 2px 6px 6px 6px;"|<div style="color: #666; font-size: 0.82em;" darkstyle="color: color-mix(in srgb, #666 55%, #f5f5f7);">The Suwon campus in Gyeonggi Province — the company's registered head office and its main research site</div> |- |style="padding: 0;"|{{Googlemap|place="Samsung Electronics, Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea"}} |- !style="background-color: #1428A0; color: #fff;"|Official links |- |style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em;"|[https://www.samsung.com/ Homepage] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">|</span> [https://news.samsung.com/global/ Newsroom] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">|</span> [https://semiconductor.samsung.com/ Semiconductor] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">|</span> [https://www.youtube.com/@Samsung YouTube] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">|</span> [https://www.instagram.com/samsung/ Instagram] <span style="color: #bbbbbb;">|</span> [https://www.linkedin.com/company/samsung-electronics/ LinkedIn]<ref name="site">"Samsung Electronics." ''Samsung'' (official) — site footer channel links. [https://www.samsung.com/ samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> |} {{ Samsung Navbox }} '''Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.''' (삼성전자 주식회사) is a South Korean company that makes memory chips, smartphones, televisions, display panels and home appliances. It is the largest company in South Korea by revenue and the biggest member of [[Samsung Group]], the country's largest business group. Its registered head office is in Suwon, about 30 kilometres south of Seoul.<ref name="report" /> The business is split into two halves. Device Solutions, usually shortened to DS, makes semiconductors: [[Dynamic random-access memory|DRAM]], [[Flash memory|NAND flash memory]] and [[High Bandwidth Memory]], plus chips made to order for other companies. Device eXperience, or DX, makes the finished products people buy — Galaxy phones, televisions, fridges and washing machines. Two subsidiaries sit alongside them: Samsung Display, which makes screens, and [[Harman International]], which makes car audio and dashboard systems.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="q126">"Samsung Electronics Announces First Quarter 2026 Results." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), April 30, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-first-quarter-2026-results news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Samsung was founded in January 1969 as Samsung Electronics Industry, assembling radios and televisions. It entered the chip business in the 1980s and became the world's largest maker of memory chips in the mid-1990s, a position it has held for most of the time since. It has also been the world's best-selling television brand every year since 2006, and it has vied with [[Apple]] for first place in smartphones for more than a decade.<ref name="report" /><ref name="tv20">"Samsung Electronics Marks 20 Consecutive Years as the World's No.1 TV Brand." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), March 8, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-marks-20-consecutive-years-as-the-worlds-no-1-tv-brand news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The artificial intelligence (AI) boom that began in 2023 sent memory prices sharply higher and made the chip half of the company far more valuable than the rest. Samsung reported revenue of ₩333.6 trillion and an operating profit of ₩43.6 trillion for 2025. In the first quarter of 2026 alone it earned an operating profit of ₩57.2 trillion — more than the whole of the previous year.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="q126" /> == History == === Beginnings (1969–1982) === Samsung Group was founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul as a trading firm in Daegu. Samsung Electronics Industry was set up on 13 January 1969 to make consumer electronics, starting with black-and-white televisions and radios built under licence from Japanese partners.<ref name="report" /><ref name="hist69">"The History of Samsung Electronics (1): Paving a New Path (1968–1970)." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/global/the-history-of-samsung-electronics-1-paving-a-new-path-19681970 news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The shares were listed on the Korea Stock Exchange in Seoul on 11 June 1975 and have traded there ever since.<ref name="report" /> Samsung bought a small chipmaker, Korea Semiconductor, in 1974. For nearly a decade the venture went nowhere.<ref name="tokyo">"Samsung Marks 40th Anniversary of 'Tokyo Declaration'." ''BusinessKorea'', 2023. [https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=109024 businesskorea.co.kr]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> === Into memory chips (1983–1999) === On 8 February 1983, from a hotel in Tokyo, Lee Byung-chul telephoned Seoul to say that Samsung would enter the semiconductor business whatever it cost. The call is remembered in Korea as the Tokyo Declaration. Samsung built a chip plant in six months, against an industry norm of about eighteen, and produced a 64K DRAM chip later that year. Korea became the third country able to make one, after the United States and Japan.<ref name="tokyo" /> The gamble took a decade to pay off. Samsung developed the world's first 256-megabit DRAM in August 1994 and became the largest memory chip maker soon afterwards.<ref name="dram256">"History of Samsung (11): Adoption of New Corporate Identity and Development of the World's First 256-Mega DRAM Semiconductor (1993–1997)." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/global/history-of-samsung-11-adoption-of-new-corporate-identity-and-development-of-worlds-first-256-mega-dram-semiconductor-1993-1997 news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Its two main domestic rivals, Hyundai Electronics and [[LG Semicon]], were pushed together into a single company by the government after the 1997 Asian financial crisis; that company is today [[SK hynix]].<ref name="skhynix-hist">"History." ''SK hynix'' (official). [https://www.skhynix.com/company/UI-FR-CP05/ skhynix.com/company]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> === Phones, screens and the rise to the top (2000–2016) === Samsung spent the 2000s turning a reputation for cheap products into a reputation for good ones. It became the world's best-selling television brand in 2006 and has stayed there every year since.<ref name="tv20" /> The Galaxy line of Android phones, launched in 2010, grew into the best-selling smartphone range in the world. In November 2016 Samsung agreed to buy [[Harman International]], an American maker of car audio and dashboard electronics, for about US$8 billion. It remains the company's largest acquisition. Harman also owns the JBL, Harman Kardon and AKG audio brands.<ref name="harman">"Samsung Electronics to Acquire HARMAN, Accelerating Growth in Automotive and Connected Technologies." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), November 14, 2016. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-to-acquire-harman-accelerating-growth-in-automotive-and-connected-technologies news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> That same year brought the worst product failure in the company's history. The Galaxy Note7, launched in August 2016, began catching fire. Samsung replaced the phones, the replacements caught fire too, and in October it stopped making the model altogether. About a million units were recalled in the United States alone. An investigation announced in January 2017 blamed two separate manufacturing faults in the batteries, from two different suppliers.<ref name="note7">"Samsung Electronics Announces Cause of Galaxy Note7 Incidents in Press Conference." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), January 2017. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-cause-of-galaxy-note7-incidents-in-press-conference news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="cpsc">Kaye, Elliot F. "Statement from Chairman Elliot F. Kaye on Samsung Galaxy Note7." ''U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission'' (official), January 24, 2017. [https://www.cpsc.gov/about-cpsc/chairman/elliot-f-kaye/statements/statement-from-chairman-elliot-f-kaye-samsung-galaxy cpsc.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> === Court cases and succession (2016–2022) === Samsung was also caught up in the political scandal that removed South Korea's president, Park Geun-hye, from office. Lee Jae-yong, the grandson of the founder, was arrested in February 2017 and convicted of bribery. He was released on parole in August 2021, having served about eighteen months, and pardoned by President Yoon Suk-yeol a year later.<ref name="parole">"Samsung's Jay Y. Lee released on parole, apologizes for causing public concern." ''CNBC'', August 13, 2021. [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/paroled-samsung-heir-apologizes-for-causing-public-concern-.html cnbc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="pardon">"South Korea's president pardons Samsung leader Jay Y. Lee." ''CNBC'', August 12, 2022. [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/12/south-koreas-president-pardons-samsung-leader-jay-y-lee.html cnbc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Lee Kun-hee, who had led Samsung since 1987, died in October 2020. His heirs faced an inheritance tax bill of more than US$10 billion, reported at the time as the largest in Korean history, payable in instalments over five years.<ref name="tax">"Samsung inheritance: Lee family to pay over $10 billion inheritance tax." ''CNBC'', April 28, 2021. [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/28/samsung-inheritance-lee-family-to-pay-over-10-billion-inheritance-tax.html cnbc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Lee Jae-yong became executive chairman in October 2022.<ref name="chairman" /> A second case ran alongside the first. Prosecutors argued that a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates had been rigged to help Lee take control of the group, and charged him with accounting fraud and stock manipulation. He was acquitted in February 2024, the acquittal was upheld on appeal, and the Supreme Court settled the matter in his favour in July 2025.<ref name="acquit">"South Korea's top court acquits Samsung chief of fraud charges." ''UPI'', July 17, 2025. [https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/07/17/korea-Lee-Jae-yong-Samsung-chairman-acquitted-fraud-South-Korea-Supreme-Court/5441752737307/ upi.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> === The AI memory boom (2023–present) === The rise of AI from 2023 changed the memory business. Data centres needed enormous quantities of a specialised product, [[High Bandwidth Memory|HBM]], and Samsung was slow to deliver it. Its HBM3E chips took more than a year to pass NVIDIA's tests, finally clearing them in September 2025, by which time [[SK hynix]] had taken most of the market.<ref name="hbm3e">"Samsung clears Nvidia hurdle for 12-layer HBM3E supply." ''KED Global'', September 19, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202509190008 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Ordinary memory then rescued the year. Contract prices for DRAM roughly doubled between late 2025 and early 2026, and Samsung, which sells more standard memory than its rivals, benefited most. It regained the lead in DRAM revenue in the last quarter of 2025 after losing it to SK hynix earlier that year.<ref name="tf-dram">"Rapid Contract Price Surge Drives 1Q26 DRAM Industry Up 81% QoQ." ''TrendForce'', June 1, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20260601-13070.html trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> In February 2026 it began shipping HBM4, the next generation, and said it expected HBM sales to more than triple during the year.<ref name="hbm4">"Samsung Ships Industry-First Commercial HBM4 With Ultimate Performance for AI Computing." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), February 12, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-ships-industry-first-commercial-hbm4-with-ultimate-performance-for-ai-computing news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The company also lost one of its two chief executives. Han Jong-hee, who ran the consumer products half of the business, died of a heart attack in March 2025 at the age of 63.<ref name="hanjh">"Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-Hee dies at 63." ''CNN'', March 24, 2025. [https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/24/tech/samsung-co-ceo-han-jong-hee-death-intl-hnk cnn.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Samsung ran with a single chief executive until November 2025, when it restored the two-CEO arrangement and named Roh Tae-moon to the vacant post.<ref name="ceos">"Samsung bolsters technology leadership with engineer-heavy executive reshuffle." ''KED Global'', November 21, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/leadership-management/newsView/ked202511210011 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> == Chips == === Memory === Memory is Samsung's largest and most profitable business. It leads both of the two main kinds. Counterpoint Research put its share of DRAM revenue at 38% in the first quarter of 2026, ahead of SK hynix on 29%, and its share of NAND flash at 29%, the largest of six suppliers.<ref name="cp-dram">"Global DRAM and HBM Market Share: Quarterly." ''Counterpoint Research'', 2026. [https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-dram-and-hbm-market-share counterpointresearch.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="cp-nand">"Global NAND Memory Market Share: Quarterly." ''Counterpoint Research'', 2026. [https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-nand-memory-market-share counterpointresearch.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Chipmakers compete by shrinking the patterns printed on each wafer. Samsung was the first to use extreme ultraviolet light, known as EUV, to print DRAM in volume, shipping its first million EUV-made modules in March 2020.<ref name="euv">"Samsung Announces Industry's First EUV DRAM With Shipment of First Million Modules." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), March 25, 2020. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-announces-industrys-first-euv-dram-with-shipment-of-first-million-modules news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Its current products cover most uses of memory: DDR5 for servers, GDDR7 for graphics cards, and the low-power LPDDR family for phones and AI machines. NAND flash stores data permanently, and is built by stacking layers on top of one another. Samsung began mass-producing its ninth generation of stacked NAND, with 286 layers, in 2024, and showed a design with more than 400 layers at a technical conference in February 2025.<ref name="vnand">"Samsung Begins Industry's First Mass Production of QLC 9th-Gen V-NAND for AI Era." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-begins-industrys-first-mass-production-of-qlc-9th-gen-v-nand-for-ai-era news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> === High Bandwidth Memory === HBM is DRAM stacked in layers and wired vertically, so that data moves much faster than it can across a flat chip. It is the memory AI accelerators use, and it is the one part of the memory market where Samsung has not led. SK hynix reached each of the HBM3 and HBM3E milestones first, and Samsung struggled for over a year to get its own HBM3E accepted by NVIDIA, the largest buyer.<ref name="hbm3e" /> Samsung says it was the first to ship commercial HBM4, in February 2026. The chips stack twelve layers, hold up to 36 gigabytes, and move up to 3.3 terabytes of data a second — about two and a half times the previous generation.<ref name="hbm4" /> Reports through the first half of 2026 disagreed about how much of NVIDIA's HBM4 order Samsung had actually won, and neither company had confirmed a figure by July 2026.<ref name="tf-hbm4">"SK hynix Reportedly to Supply About Two-Thirds of NVIDIA HBM4; Samsung Targets Early Delivery." ''TrendForce'', January 28, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/01/28/news-sk-hynix-reportedly-to-supply-about-two-thirds-of-nvidia-hbm4-samsung-targets-early-delivery/ trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> === Foundry === A foundry makes chips that other companies design. Samsung is the only firm in the world that runs a large foundry and a large memory business at the same time, but the foundry is a distant second to Taiwan's [[TSMC]]. TrendForce put TSMC at 72% of foundry revenue in the first quarter of 2026 and Samsung at 6.5%.<ref name="tf-foundry">"Strong AI Demand and Early Consumer Electronics Inventory Build Drive Top 10 Foundries to 3.7% QoQ Revenue Growth in 1Q26." ''TrendForce'', June 12, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20260612-13095.html trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Samsung was first in the industry to mass-produce chips using gate-all-around transistors, a new switch design, at its 3-nanometre node in June 2022.<ref name="gaa">"Samsung Begins Chip Production Using 3nm Process Technology With GAA Architecture." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), June 30, 2022. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-begins-chip-production-using-3nm-process-technology-with-gaa-architecture news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The foundry has nonetheless lost money every year since 2022, and its head said in June 2026 that a full profitable year was unlikely before 2028.<ref name="foundry-profit">"Samsung Foundry Chief Sets 2028 for Annual Profit, Tempering Talk of a 2026 Rebound." ''Tech Times'', June 14, 2026. [https://www.techtimes.com/articles/318311/20260614/samsung-foundry-chief-sets-2028-annual-profit-tempering-talk-2026-rebound.htm techtimes.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Its largest win came in July 2025, when Tesla agreed to buy US$16.5 billion of chips through to the end of 2033, to be made at Samsung's new plant in Texas.<ref name="tesla">"Samsung clinches $16.5 billion chipmaking deal from Tesla." ''KED Global'', July 28, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202507280001 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> == Phones, televisions and appliances == === Phones === Samsung and Apple have traded the lead in smartphones for years, and the gap between them is small. Apple sold slightly more phones than Samsung over the whole of 2025; Samsung was ahead again in the first quarter of 2026, with 62.4 million shipments to Apple's 61.8 million.<ref name="idc">"Smartphone Market Share." ''International Data Corporation'' (IDC), Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, June 23, 2026. [https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/ idc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The Galaxy S series is the flagship line. Samsung also makes folding phones — the Z Fold, which opens into a small tablet, and the Z Flip, which folds shut like a compact. Since the Galaxy S24 in 2024 the phones have been sold on their AI features, under the name Galaxy AI. The Galaxy S26 range was announced in San Francisco in February 2026.<ref name="s26">"Galaxy Unpacked 2026: A First Look at the Galaxy S26 Series." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), February 25, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/galaxy-unpacked-2026-a-first-look-at-the-galaxy-s26-series-samsungs-most-intuitive-ai-phone-yet news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Samsung is unusual in designing its own phone processors, called Exynos, while also buying processors from Qualcomm. Which chip a Galaxy phone contains depends on the model and on the country it is sold in. === Televisions and home appliances === Samsung has been the world's best-selling television brand every year since 2006 — twenty years in a row — with 29.1% of television revenue worldwide in 2025.<ref name="tv20" /> The same division makes fridges, washing machines, air conditioners and ovens. It is the weakest part of the company by profit: in the last quarter of 2025 the television and appliance business lost ₩0.6 trillion, while every other division made money.<ref name="fy25" /> === Screens, sound and networks === Samsung Display, a subsidiary, makes the OLED panels used in phones and televisions. Apple is among its customers: it was reported in 2025 as the sole screen supplier for Apple's folding iPhone.<ref name="sdc-apple">"Samsung Display picked as sole OLED supplier for foldable iPhone." ''KED Global'', April 14, 2025. [https://www.kedglobal.com/tech,-media-telecom/newsView/ked202504140001 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The division brought in ₩6.7 trillion of revenue in the first quarter of 2026.<ref name="q126" /> Harman, bought in 2016, sells car audio systems, dashboard displays and consumer audio. It recorded revenue of about ₩15.8 trillion in 2025, reported as its best year since the takeover.<ref name="harman" /><ref name="harman25">"Harman hits KRW15.78tn revenue 10 years after Samsung acquisition." ''DigiTimes'', April 24, 2026. [https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20260424PD230/samsung-harman-revenue-adas.html digitimes.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Samsung also sells mobile network equipment, competing with Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei. Its best-known contract is a US$6.6 billion agreement signed with Verizon in 2020. The business has shrunk since: revenue in the first quarter of 2026 fell by a quarter from a year earlier, to about ₩0.6 trillion.<ref name="networks">Morris, Iain. "Samsung Networks has one of its worst quarters since 5G was born." ''Light Reading'', May 1, 2026. [https://www.lightreading.com/5g/samsung-networks-has-one-of-its-worst-quarters-since-5g-was-born lightreading.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> == Factories == Chip factories are called fabs. Samsung's are concentrated in the south-west of Gyeonggi Province, within an hour or so of Seoul. * '''Giheung and Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province''' — the older campuses, and the site of the company's semiconductor research centre. Hwaseong received Samsung's first High-NA EUV machine, the most advanced chipmaking tool built, in 2025.<ref name="highna">"Samsung Reportedly Holds Back High-NA EUV Mass Production to Contain Costs Ahead of Foundry Turnaround." ''TrendForce'', July 17, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/07/17/news-samsung-reportedly-holds-back-high-na-euv-mass-production-to-contain-costs-ahead-of-foundry-turnaround/ trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> * '''Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province''' — the company's main memory site, built in phases known as P1 to P5. P4 is being fitted out for the newest DRAM and for HBM4. In May 2026 Samsung said it would bring the next stage of the expansion forward by six months to keep up with AI demand.<ref name="p5">"Samsung to advance mega-fab expansion by 6 months." ''KED Global'', May 7, 2026. [https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202605070006 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> * '''Onyang and Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province''' — packaging plants, where finished wafers are cut up and assembled into chips. Both are being expanded for HBM, which is far harder to package than ordinary memory.<ref name="onyang">"Samsung Expands Onyang Campus to Boost Chip Packaging Capacity." ''Seoul Economic Daily'', April 22, 2026. [https://en.sedaily.com/business/2026/04/22/samsung-expands-onyang-campus-to-boost-chip-packaging sedaily.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> * '''Taylor, Texas, United States''' — a foundry site announced in 2021 and repeatedly delayed. Samsung skipped a planned process node to go straight to 2 nanometres, and now expects production in 2027. It was awarded up to US$4.745 billion under the American CHIPS and Science Act.<ref name="nist">"Samsung Electronics — Texas (Taylor)." ''National Institute of Standards and Technology, CHIPS Program Office'' (official). [https://www.nist.gov/chips/samsung-electronics-texas-taylor nist.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="taylor">"Samsung Accelerates U.S. Expansion as Taylor Fab Targets 2027 Start." ''TrendForce'', June 2, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/06/02/news-samsung-accelerates-u-s-expansion-as-taylor-fab-targets-2027-start-hq-reportedly-moves-to-texas-in-2026/ trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> * '''Xi'an, China''' — two NAND flash fabs, among the largest of their kind anywhere. A national cluster is also being built at Yongin, south of Seoul, where Samsung plans several fabs on a single site. Its first Yongin plant has been brought forward to 2029.<ref name="yongin">"Korea Pushes to Fast-Track Yongin Chip Cluster by a Decade." ''Seoul Economic Daily'', June 24, 2026. [https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/06/24/korea-pushes-to-fast-track-yongin-chip-cluster-by-a-decade sedaily.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The Chinese fabs became a regulatory problem in 2025. American rules govern which chipmaking equipment may be sold to factories in China. Samsung had held a standing permit covering its Chinese sites; the United States revoked it with effect from 31 December 2025 and replaced it with an annual approval process.<ref name="veu">"Revocation of Validated End-User Authorizations in the People's Republic of China." ''Federal Register'', September 2, 2025. [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/02/2025-16735/revocation-of-validated-end-user-authorizations-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china federalregister.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> == Ownership and management == Samsung Electronics has no parent company. Instead the founding family controls it through a chain of stakes held by other Samsung firms. At the end of 2024 the largest shareholders were Samsung Life Insurance with 8.6%, the National Pension Service — South Korea's state pension fund — with 7.3%, and Samsung C&T with 5.0%. The Lee family's own direct holdings are much smaller; their influence comes from controlling Samsung C&T, which in turn holds much of Samsung Life.<ref name="agm" /> Lee Jae-yong has been executive chairman since October 2022. He is not a member of the board.<ref name="chairman" /> Day-to-day management is split between two chief executives: Jun Young-hyun runs the chip business, and Roh Tae-moon runs everything else. The board is chaired by Shin Je-yoon, an independent director — someone who is not an employee of the company — and five of its eight seats are held by independents.<ref name="board" /><ref name="ceos" /> == Finances == Figures are as reported by the company. One trillion won is roughly US$700 million.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="q126" /> {| |+ Revenue and profit (₩ trillion) |- ! Period !! Revenue !! Operating profit |- | FY2024 || 300.9 || 32.7 |- | FY2025 || 333.6 || 43.6 |- | 1Q 2026 || 133.9 || 57.2 |} Both 2025 figures were records, and both were beaten inside a single quarter the following year. The chip division supplied most of the difference: it earned ₩53.7 trillion of the ₩57.2 trillion operating profit in the first quarter of 2026, on revenue of ₩81.7 trillion.<ref name="q126" /> Samsung's guidance for the second quarter, published on 7 July 2026, put revenue at about ₩171 trillion and operating profit at about ₩89.4 trillion.<ref name="q226">"Samsung Electronics Announces Earnings Guidance for Second Quarter 2026." ''Samsung Newsroom'' (official), July 7, 2026. [https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-earnings-guidance-for-second-quarter-2026 news.samsung.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The company spent a record ₩37.7 trillion on research and development in 2025.<ref name="fy25" /> == Market position == Gartner ranked Samsung the second-largest semiconductor company in the world for 2025, with revenue of US$72.5 billion, behind NVIDIA and ahead of SK hynix.<ref name="gartner">"Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 21% in 2025." ''Gartner'', January 12, 2026. [https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-01-12-gartner-says-worldwide-semiconductor-revenue-grew-21-percent-in-2025 gartner.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> It leads the world in DRAM, in NAND flash, in televisions and in OLED screens, and is second in HBM and in foundry work.<ref name="cp-dram" /><ref name="cp-nand" /><ref name="tv20" /><ref name="tf-foundry" /> Samsung is normally the most valuable company on the Korean stock market by a wide margin, and it is large enough that its share price moves the national index on its own. In June 2026 SK hynix briefly overtook it for the first time, on the strength of that company's HBM lead, before Samsung regained the position within days.<ref name="mcap">"SK Hynix briefly tops Samsung as Korea's most valuable company." ''Fortune'', June 23, 2026. [https://fortune.com/2026/06/23/sk-hynix-samsung-semiconductors-south-korea-most-valuable-company/ fortune.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> == See also == {{ Samsung Navbox }} {{ World's 10 largest semiconductor companies Navbox }} * [[Samsung Group]] * [[SK hynix]] * [[LG Semicon]] * [[Dynamic random-access memory]] * [[Flash memory]] * [[High Bandwidth Memory]] * [[Micron Technology]] * [[TSMC]]