The return to the six-day week for Samsung’s senior executives has not yet produced the expected results. On October 8, the South Korean conglomerate had to apologize after publishing financial forecasts that were significantly lower than investors’ expectations.

Alarming predictions for Samsung’s future

Jun Young-hyun, recently named head of the semiconductor division, candidly acknowledged that the company has major concerns about its technological competitiveness. He said: “We have raised concerns about our future.” This awareness is accompanied by a commitment not to resort to short term solutions.

The manager insists on the need to rethink both the corporate culture and the internal organization. He intends to instill a challenger spirit rather than a defensive attitudewhich does not encourage innovation.

Slow start to market results

For the third quarter, Samsung forecasts an operating profit of 9.1 trillion won (6.2 billion euros), a performance higher than that of the previous year, but down compared to the previous quarter. Analysts attribute this poor performance to difficulties encountered in the semiconductor sector.

Despite its status as the world’s leading manufacturer of memory chips, Samsung is lagging behind in the field of generative artificial intelligence, which discredits it compared to its competitor SK hynix.

Samsung’s delay in Artificial Intelligence

AI companies are increasingly turning to graphics cards (GPUs) accompanied by high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. These make it possible to optimize space and reduce energy consumption. However, Samsung is struggling to master its last two generations of HBM technologies.

• The HBM3 and HBM3e chips encounter heat problems.
• The difficulties linked to the energy consumption slow their adoption.

According to Reuters, Samsung failed in certification tests by Nvidia, which holds a dominant share of the market for GPUs dedicated to AI. As a result, Nvidia is turning to SK hynix, whose order book is almost complete for 2025, making it the main beneficiary of growth expectations.

The challenges of the foundry division

Another major challenge facing Samsung lies within its foundry division. Ambitious, the company’s leaders had bet on the need to close the gap with TSMC, the Taiwanese leader in the sector. Unfortunately, this gap continues to widen. According to Trendforce estimates, Samsung’s market share in the foundry sector is expected to fall to 10% this year, compared to 16% five years ago.

In its quest to catch up, Samsung relied on a new lithographic process, while TSMC chose to delay this transition. However, Samsung is struggling to achieve a sufficient rate of return, which complicates its attractiveness to new customers.

Towards strategic thinking

The challenges Samsung faces illustrate the complexity of today’s technology landscape. Between the need to transform its corporate culture and catching up with its technological gap, the South Korean giant must imperatively review its strategy to ensure a competitive future on the global market. A strategic thinking is essential to rediscover innovation and respond to contemporary challenges.