SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported progress on a major supply deal for artificial intelligence-focused chips, aimed at reassuring investors after a slowdown in semiconductor profits in the last quarter.

The South Korean technology giant said its operating profit in the July-September period reached 9.18 trillion won ($6.65 billion), up more than 277% from the previous year. However, this figure represents a 12 percent decrease from the second quarter; Samsung attributed this largely to one-time costs, such as incentives for employees in its computer chip business, and the effects of a weak U.S. dollar.

Samsung’s semiconductor division generated operating profit of 3.86 trillion won ($2.8 billion) in the quarter; It recovered from the deficit in 2023 but fell sharply from the 6.45 trillion won ($4.67 billion) it reported in the April-June period.

While Samsung saw strong demand for its AI and server chips last quarter, its mobile chip business weakened as some customers adjusted their inventories. In its statement, the company stated that the market was also affected by the increase in the supply of old memory products from Chinese manufacturers.

More importantly, Samsung has fallen behind key rivals like SK Hynix in HBM3E, the latest generation of high-bandwidth memory chips used to power AI applications.

During a conference call, Samsung Executive Vice President Jaejune Kim said the company recently made “meaningful progress” in the qualification testing process to offer HBM3E products to an unspecified “major customer.” fourth quarter. Kim’s comments triggered speculation that Samsung was approaching a supply deal with Nvidia, a leading US manufacturer that designs advanced chips that power artificial intelligence.

“While there may be a softness in memory demand for mobile and PC in the fourth quarter, growth in artificial intelligence will keep demand at strong levels. “In this context, the company will focus on increasing the sales of high-bandwidth memory and high-density products,” he said.