Samsung’s memory division has achieved record results, even surpassing the operating profits of major Silicon Valley companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft.
During the first quarter of 2026, Samsung’s memory business reached an impressive $50.4 billion in revenue. Out of this total, $37 billion came from DRAM, while $13.4 billion came from NAND modules.
These figures are not only historic highs for the company, but they also represent a 167% increase compared to its previous peak in 2018.
Samsung Surpasses Big Tech Rivals With Record AI Memory Sales
This strong growth is largely driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. DRAM memory has become a key part of AI infrastructure, and demand from hyperscalers and cloud service providers has created a global shortage that Samsung has been able to benefit from.
One of the most interesting parts of these results is the direct comparison with other major tech companies. While firms like Meta and Amazon mainly rely on digital services and advertising, Samsung’s strength comes from the essential hardware that powers those same services.
Its operating profit for the quarter even surpassed Microsoft and TSMC, showing that in the current AI boom, some of the biggest winners are the companies producing the hardware behind it.
In particular, advanced memory technologies such as HBM3E and HBM4 are playing a major role, as they are widely used in powerful AI accelerators and data center systems.
