Source: The Korea Times

What happened

According to The Korea Times, Samsung Electronics said Thursday it will break ground on a second foundry fab in Taylor, Texas, by year-end, aiming for mass production in 2030, as advanced-process demand outruns capacity. On the same earnings call it posted a record 89.5 trillion won (about US$62 billion) in second-quarter operating profit — up 1,814 percent year-on-year — on revenue of 171.5 trillion won (+130 percent).

Those figures made Samsung the world’s most profitable company for the quarter, the Times reported. Memory strength — not phones — carried the print.

The breakdown

Device Solutions (chips) logged 127.5 trillion won in sales (+357 percent) and 89.2 trillion won in operating profit (more than 220-fold). Samsung said it expanded HBM4 shipments, delivered next-generation HBM4E samples to major customers in Q2, and expects HBM4 sales to triple in Q3 versus the prior quarter, taking more than 60 percent of HBM revenue in the second half. Server SSDs are expected to exceed 60 percent of NAND revenue this year.

To damp cycle swings, Samsung is expanding long-term agreements of more than five years toward at least 60 percent of production capacity. It dismissed a near-term memory glut: new fabs take more than three years to add meaningful wafer supply, so a sharp industry supply jump before 2028 is unlikely.

Device Experience (phones, devices) told a different story: 48 trillion won revenue (−7.2 percent) and an 800 billion won operating loss after a 4.7 trillion won profit a year earlier. MX and Network together posted a 700 billion won operating loss as memory component costs rose. Flagship Galaxy S26 sales helped MX revenue, but management warned cost pressure continues into H2 and pointed to foldables and Galaxy Watch Ultra for upselling.

Why it matters outside Korea

Anyone buying Korea-linked chips, timing U.S. foundry work in Texas, or watching phone margins should split this quarter into two lanes: server/AI memory boom versus device margin squeeze. A second Taylor fab is a multi-year U.S. capacity signal, not a 2026 phone upgrade coupon.

Overseas retailers and carriers that expected cheap memory to pad handset profits need the opposite frame: elevated memory prices are biting Device Experience now.

What travelers and expats should watch

• Phone purchase timing: do not assume Q2’s mega profit means cheaper Galaxy deals — DX is already loss-making on component costs.
• Texas fab calendar: year-end groundbreaking and 2030 mass production are planning markers for suppliers, local hires, and U.S. industrial policy desks — not next-quarter delivery.
• HBM / server story: if your Korea exposure is AI infrastructure, track HBM4 share and long-term supply contracts, not headline “most profitable company” alone.
• No stock tip: this brief is an ops map of Samsung’s two engines, not advice to buy or sell the shares.

Context

Read this as AI-memory boom paying for a U.S. foundry bet while the phone shop bleeds, not as a simple “Samsung is crushing it” story. The Times numbers that matter for behavior are the ₩89.5T / Taylor 2 / DX −₩800B split and the pre-2028 glut skepticism. Korelay’s frame: update chip and device calendars separately.

Korelay take

Read this as AI-memory boom paying for a U.S. foundry bet while the phone shop bleeds, not as a simple “Samsung is crushing it” story. The Times numbers that matter for behavior are the ₩89.5T / Taylor 2 / DX −₩800B split and the pre-2028 glut skepticism. Korelay’s frame: update chip and device calendars separately.

Editor note: Desk reporting supplies the timeline; Korelay adds the overseas behavior layer (what to change, what not to assume, what to re-check). If you only need the wire facts, open the primary link in Source.

Source

The Korea Times: Samsung Electronics to break ground on 2nd fab in Taylor within this year — paraphrased for briefing; company outlook claims attributed; read the original for full detail.