South Korean Samsung Electronics saw its operating profits surge in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous year. The company attributes the increase to its semiconductor division which manufactures bitcoin mining chips and says that it expects the trend to continue into the second quarter.
Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space
Profits Surging
A world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, South Korean Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. recently announced its 1Q18 earnings results. Samsung Electronics is the flagship company of the Samsung Group with assembly plants and sales network in 80 countries.
In the first quarter of this year, the company recorded consolidated earnings of 60.56 trillion won (~US$56 billion). Its operating profits were 15.64 trillion won (~$14.5 billion), a 58% increase from 9.9 trillion won (~$9.2 billion) achieved during the same period last year. Meanwhile, its year-on-year sales grew approximately 20%.
The Seoul Newspaper elaborated that Samsung Electronics’ “semiconductor division…accounted for about three-quarters (73%) of total operating profits, leading the company to a record high.” Samsung explained:
Demand for the semiconductor division increased due to sales of system LSIs [ASICs] for flagship smartphones and demand for virtual currency mining chips.
Samsung’s Mining Chips & Earnings Outlook
Samsung confirmed in January that it had begun manufacturing ASIC chips used for mining cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether. Without providing details, a company spokesperson told Techcrunch at the time that “Samsung’s foundry business is currently engaged in the manufacturing of cryptocurrency mining chips.”
Samsung Electronics offers design services which connect “mid-to small-sized companies with qualified ASIC design services and support.” In January, the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem program was launched to ensure deep collaboration between the Samsung foundry, ecosystem partners,
