Samsung’s US profit triples in H1 thanks to Galaxy phones

Samsung Electronics Co.'s US unit nearly tripled its profit in the first half of the year, defying concerns about steep US tariffs on foreign electronics as its Galaxy smartphones gained traction with American consumers.

According to the South Korean electronics company’s half-year business report, net profit at Samsung Electronics America Inc. nearly tripled to 939.8 billion won ($671.9 million) in the January-June period from 334 billion won a year earlier.

Over the same period, its revenue edged up to 20.36 trillion won from 20.06 trillion won.

The solid performance was largely owed to strong sales of Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S25 series, launched earlier this year with advanced artificial-intelligence features.

AI EDGE LIFTS GALAXY S25 SALES

Samsung captured 31% of the US smartphone market in the second quarter ended June 2025, up 8 percentage points from the same period of last year, according to Canalys, a US-based IT research firm.

Over the same period, Apple Inc.’s share contracted to 49% from 56%.

Galaxy smartphone shipments in the market also jumped 38% to 8.3 million units over the cited period, while iPhone shipments declined 11% to 13.3 million units.

Analysts attributed Samsung’s competitive pricing and AI tools – often considered more effective than Apple’s – along with stronger hardware specifications, to its sales growth on Apple’s home turf.

Hitting the market earlier this year, the Galaxy S25 series, outfitted with the Snapdragon 8 Elite application processor (AP), offers unified AI functionality, which consolidates AI features previously scattered across individual apps.

With its newly designed user interface, One UI 7, Samsung has ensured seamless integration between Samsung’s and Google’s AI assistants.

TARIFFS BITE INTO APPLIANCES

The smartphone surge helped Samsung offset weaker profitability at its US home appliances and TV businesses, which have been hit by 50% US levies on imported steel derivative products, like washing machines, on top of a 10% “baseline tariff” on all other imports from all countries.

Such harsh duties slashed the earnings of its crosstown electronics rival LG Electronics Inc.'s US operations over the same period.

LG Electronics’ US unit swung to a net loss of 6.8 billion won from a net profit of 329.8 billion won a year earlier, while sales shrank to 6.84 trillion won from 7.02 trillion won.

FOLDABLE PHONES EYED AS NEXT DRIVER

Samsung Electronics is pinning high hopes on its latest premium foldable phone series to extend its momentum in the world’s third-largest smartphone market.

In late July, the Korean smartphone maker rolled out the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7 in the US.  

Its slimmest and most powerful foldable smartphones yet, equipped with advanced AI tools and larger displays, saw sales jump 50% in their first week compared with their predecessors.

However, risk remains as the US government is set to announce tariffs on foreign semiconductor-based products, such as mobile phones.

Such levies could weigh on Korean smartphone sales in the US.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at why29@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.