Trump’s Tariffs May Have Just Supercharged Galaxy S25 Sales

Samsung started 2025 on a high note, pulling in 10% more revenue than it did a year ago — and netting a $5.7 billion profit, up nearly 22%. A big reason? The Galaxy S25 Series. Launched in January, the new flagship helped breathe fresh life into Samsung’s mobile business, along with some help from the President of the United States.

Galaxy S25 Sales Get a Boost From Tariff Fears

Part of the sales surge may have come from something outside Samsung’s control, looming U.S. tariffs. With new import fees on the horizon, many shoppers rushed to buy phones early, worried that prices could jump in the coming months. That sense of urgency likely pushed more Galaxy S25 units off the shelves than usual. Samsung isn’t alone here — other tech companies could see similar patterns in their quarterly reports.

Chip Division Still Feeling the Heat

But it’s not all good news. Samsung’s semiconductor business had a rough quarter, with sales dropping 17% to $17.63 billion. The biggest drag? It’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The company’s latest HBM3E models still haven’t been certified by NVIDIA, and without that stamp of approval, it’s tough to compete in the AI chip space.

Samsung Foundry didn’t have much luck either. Weaker seasonal demand and low fab utilization hit hard. Still, there’s a glimmer of hope: rumors suggest Samsung could be tapped to build Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chips using its upcoming 2nm process, set to launch in September.

A Tougher Q2, But Bigger Launches Are Coming

Looking ahead, Samsung is cautioning investors that the second quarter might be a bit bumpier. But help could be on the way with the Galaxy S25 Edge, as well as newer, faster memory chips like LPDDR5X and 12-layer HBM3E. And while foldable fans will have to wait a bit longer, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 are expected to drop in July, giving Samsung a potentially strong Q3.