Samsung to Distribute Rp 1,274 Trillion to Shareholders

Samsung Electronics is reportedly poised to announce a policy of distributing US$71.75 billion (Rp 1,274 trillion) to its shareholders. The move comes after the chip manufacturer posted record profits.

The profit-sharing programme includes dividends and share buybacks. Samsung will allocate 50% of its corporate cash to shareholders.

The news emerged shortly after its closest rival, SK Hynix, announced a similar programme worth 40 trillion won, or approximately Rp 440 trillion, in the form of share buybacks and cancellations. That already stands as the largest profit distribution programme in the history of publicly listed companies in South Korea. SK Hynix has also committed to channelling more than 50% of its cash to shareholders over the 2025–2027 period.

Samsung appears intent on surpassing its competitor by offering a far larger sum to cement its position as the world’s largest memory chip maker, which is reaping substantial profits from the surge in demand for chips used in AI data centres.

Memory chip prices and demand have soared amid the rapid construction of artificial intelligence data centres worldwide. Samsung and SK Hynix are the two largest suppliers of the advanced memory chips required by AI machines. It is this abundant profit that now enables them to share their fortunes in extraordinary amounts.

Samsung itself has yet to issue an official comment on the matter. The precise breakdown between dividends and share buybacks is expected to be formally announced after the board of directors meeting at the end of this month.

The policies of Samsung and SK Hynix follow a wave of protests by employees led by trade unions, demanding that workers also share in the surge in revenue from chip sales.