The coming year is fraught with many challenges for Samsung, and the company does not have a clear strategy for overcoming them.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics retains its status as the world’s largest supplier of semiconductor products, but it faces increasing challenges. According to analysts, it is not ready for all of them, and therefore Samsung’s operating profit forecast for the current year decreased by 36.3% compared to August last year to $30 billion.

At least, these are the FnGuide assessments cited by The Chosun Daily. To counter this trend, Samsung Electronics would have to demonstrate significant results in the production of HBM family memory chips, since in general its smaller competitor in the person of SK hynix now remains the leader in this area, controlling more than half of the global market, and literally collects all the “cream” with the boom of artificial intelligence systems.

Another important factor limiting the company’s speed of development for Samsung is the national legislation of South Korea, which limits the working week in the country to 52 hours. To make up for lost time, Samsung employees must work more, which local laws prevent them from doing. So far, it is expected that about 9% of Samsung’s total workforce, or about 7,000 people who work in research and development, will be exempt from this restriction.

A problem for Samsung is also the expansion of Chinese chip manufacturers, who have already mastered the production of DDR5, if we talk about the success of CXMT. Moreover, Chinese companies offer DDR4 at half the price of Samsung products. Last November, the average price of PU DRAM chips fell 20.6% sequentially to $1.35. According to TrendForce forecasts, DRAM production volumes in China will grow by 25% this year, which will contribute to further price reductions.

Analysts’ opinions on the dynamics of operating profit in the coming year differed. Some believe that it will increase relative to 2024 from $24 to $27 billion, others predict a decrease due to problems with the release of HBM3E for Nvidia’s needs. The Korean supplier never certified its chips of this type in accordance with the requirements of its American partner.

The rise to power in the United States of Donald Trump creates another problem for Samsung and other memory manufacturers. If he raises customs duties on electronic devices assembled in Asia, the prices of smartphones and PCs equipped with Samsung memory will inevitably rise, demand for them will decrease, and so will sales volumes. After Trump won the US presidential election in November, analysts cut Samsung’s operating profit forecast by about 20%. Now the range in the company’s operating profit, according to analysts’ estimates, ranges from $16.2 to $37.2 billion.