MAYASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8AI TO DRIVE DEMAND IN SECOND QUARTER, SAYS SAMSUNGVIETNAM'S EXPORTS SOAR TO $30.94B IN APRILSamsung Electronics anticipates strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technology to continue driving sales of memory chips and tech devices in the second half of the year. The company reported a significant increase in first-quarter operating profit, largely attributed to a nearly doubling of memory chip sales from a year earlier, with prices rising steeply due to increased demand for AI-related applications.The company highlighted that business conditions are expected to remain positive in the latter half of 2024, with demand, particularly for generative AI, remaining robust despite potential volatility stemming from macroeconomic trends and geopolitical issues.Samsung's first-quarter operating profit surged to 6.6 trillion won ($4.8 billion), up from 640 billion won in the same period last year, in line with its earlier estimate. This marked its highest operating profit since the third quarter of 2022. Revenue for the quarter increased by 13 percent to 71.9 trillion won, driven by a 96 percent surge in memory chip revenue to 17.49 trillion won.The memory chip division, historically a significant contributor to Samsung's operating profit, returned to profitability after a period of downturn, buoyed by customers purchasing chips in anticipation of further price increases. Prices of NAND flash chips rose by 23-28 percent, while prices of DRAM chips increased by approximately 20 percent during the first quarter.Looking ahead, Samsung announced the commencement of mass production of its latest high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, called 8-layer HBM3E, for use in generative AI chipsets. This move underscores Samsung's efforts to capitalize on the ongoing AI boom, despite facing competition from rivals benefitting from similar market trends. Vietnam's exports in April are estimated to have increased by 10.6 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching $30.94 billion. This growth was primarily driven by the export of electronics. Concurrently, industrial output in April saw a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent, according to government data released on Monday. As a Southeast Asian manufacturing hub, Vietnam heavily relies on exports to fuel its economic development.Import figures for April show a significant rise of 19.9 percent, reaching $30.26 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $680 million for the month, as reported by the General Statistics Office (GSO). Over the January-April period, exports increased by 15.0 percent year-on-year to $123.64 billion, while imports rose by 15.4 percent to $115.24 billion, leading to a trade surplus of $8.4 billion for the four months.The General Statistics Office (GSO) also reported a 4.4 percent year-on-year increase in consumer prices for April, with retail sales experiencing a 9.0 percent annual growth. Notably, electronic shipments surged by 32.6 percent in April compared to the previous year, totaling $5.3 billion. Smartphone exports also saw a rise of 9.1 percent to $4.2 billion during the same period.Vietnam aims to achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.0 to 6.5 percent this year, surpassing its 2023 expansion of 5.05 percent. NEWSROOM
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