Samsung Electronics reported a 56% year-over-year decline in its second-quarter operating profit, falling to 4.6 trillion won ($3.3 billion), significantly missing analyst expectations of a 41% drop. This marks the company's first profit decline since 2023. The sharp decrease was primarily attributed to delays in delivering advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM3E) chips to Nvidia, a key customer that holds about 70% of the global HBM market. Certification delays for Samsung's 12-layer HBM3E chip have pushed Nvidia's qualification timeline to early Q4, allowing competitor SK Hynix to maintain its lead in the AI memory segment. Additionally, U.S. export controls restricting shipments of advanced AI chips to China further impacted Samsung's earnings and semiconductor business performance. The company also faced inventory valuation losses in its semiconductor division. Samsung's second-quarter revenue was approximately 74 trillion won, nearly flat compared to the previous year, but operating profit was more than halved. The profit miss has raised investor concerns about Samsung's ability to revive its struggling semiconductor business amid ongoing geopolitical trade restrictions and competitive pressures in the AI chip market.