Samsung Electronics made history by reaching a market valuation of $1 trillion, driven by a surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related chips. The company's shares have more than quadrupled in a year, including a gain of around 12% in recent trading.
The achievement makes Samsung the second Asian company after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to reach that level, thus lifting the KOSPI index above 7,000 for the first time. Along with SK Hynix, these three giants are now the backbone of the global AI ecosystem.
This strong momentum is supported by the extraordinary performance of Samsung's semiconductor division, which recorded a 48-fold jump in profit in the March quarter, due to high demand from AI data centers.
Analysts expect this growth to continue in the coming quarters, driven by supply constraints and rising prices of DRAM and NAND.
In other developments, Apple Inc. is reportedly evaluating using Samsung as an additional chip supplier to reduce its dependence on TSMC.
At the same time, the inflow of foreign investors has also accelerated the stock's rise, supported by easier access to the Korean market and expectations of a prolonged chip supply shortage until 2027.
