Samsung, the world’s largest maker of random-access memory chips has reported a record 95% operating profit loss, following a 22% sales slip from the previous year.

This happened as a result of a significant decline in sales of consumer devices such as smartphones and computers. The dip was notable in the company’s report earlier this month, where it estimated second-quarter revenue to be 60 trillion Korean won and operating profit to be 600 billion Korean won, according to CNBC.

Samsung said in its earnings report that it hopes for a recovery as it shifts focus on higher-end products but expressed concern about macroeconomic risks.

“Global demand is expected to gradually recover in the second half of the year which should lead to an improvement in earnings driven by the component business,” Samsung said.

“However, continued macroeconomic risks could prove to be a challenge in such recovery in demand.”

Focusing on higher-end products means that Samsung will focus more on its memory business. The South Korean company said that robust artificial intelligence demand led to more DRAM shipments than expected in the second quarter, compared with the first quarter.

“The memory business saw results improve from the previous quarter as its focus on high bandwidth memory (HBM) and DDR5 products in anticipation of robust demand for AI applications led to higher-than-guided DRAM shipments,” said Samsung.

In its earnings report, Samsung said both DRAM and NAND flash memory chips also saw “more limited price drops” which improved second-quarter performance, compared with the first quarter.

“As server customers continued inventory adjustment, overall purchase demand had not yet recovered. Due to the strong demand for generative AI, however, investment from the data center sector was concentrated on AI servers,” said Samsung.

The explosion of AI-powered chatbots led by OpenAI’s ChatGPT expanded demand for high-performance memory chips as more companies rushed to compete in the emerging tech market. Memory is needed to help the AI language models to remember past activities including humanlike conversations required for future AI training.

According to Samsung, as the second half of the year progresses, the market is anticipated to move towards stability due to increasing production cuts in the industry and a winding down of inventory adjustments by customers.

To capitalize on the expected recovery in demand, Samsung plans to concentrate on high-value-added products like DDR5, LPDDR5x, and HBM. Additionally, the company intends to boost investments in infrastructure, research and development, and packaging technology to further support its growth prospects.

Competition in the electronics market has also posed a challenge to Samsung sales, as demand for its products weakens due to products from rival companies. But other factors such as inflation have also affected the company’s profit.

Samsung noted that the overall mobile phone market experienced a decline in demand during the second quarter, primarily due to ongoing macroeconomic challenges such as inflation.

Additionally, the initial excitement generated by the launch of the Galaxy S23 series in the first quarter subsided, contributing to the sales dip in the second quarter. Moreover, a delayed market recovery presented additional challenges for the company’s sales during this period.

“Nevertheless, the Galaxy S23 series was able to achieve higher results than its predecessor in the first half, in terms of both volume and value,” said Samsung, adding that it plans to lift sales of the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy A series.

CNBC, quoting data from global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation, reported that global shipments of smartphones are expected to decline 3.2% in 2023 to 1.17 billion units. The firm lowered its forecast from February, driven by factors such as “a weaker economic outlook” and “ongoing inflation.”

Smartphone and PC manufacturers are currently facing the challenge of dealing with surplus inventories of memory chips. During the pandemic, these manufacturers stockpiled memory chips to meet the rising demand for consumer devices.

However, due to inflationary pressures, consumers have started cutting back on purchases of such goods, leading to a decline in prices for memory chips. As a result, manufacturers are now grappling with excess supply, posing a new obstacle for the industry.

“Our conversations with channels, supply chain partners, and major OEMs all point to recovery being pushed further out and a weaker second half of the year,” said Nabila Popal, IDC’s research director.

“Consumer demand is recovering much slower than expected in all regions, including China.”

In its Thursday earnings call, Samsung told analysts that it would be making additional production cuts on certain DRAM and NAND products “to further accelerate inventory normalization,” per CNBC

Samsung’s plan to focus on higher-end products includes its premium foldable phones – the newly launched high-end Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 series. This is expected to cement its leading position in the global foldable smartphone market.

Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday that the Galaxy S23 series still drives most of Samsung’s profits in the premium smartphone space.

“Despite how bad the memory business is, the good thing is at least the premium part of the market is helping to drive some of their profits or at least offset some of the damage caused by the memory side of the business,” he said.

Meta’s latest quarterly report reveals that Facebook’s monthly active users have surpassed 3 billion, indicating a significant rebound from the decline observed in the number of users, particularly among young people, over the past two years.

The social media company saw a massive decline in the number of young users, which cut across other platforms owned by its parent Meta. The social media behemoth’s family of apps consists of WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and now Threads, which combined, have 3.88 billion monthly active users.

The current number of users across Meta’s platforms amounts nearly to half of the world population, underlying the company’s notable recovery from its abysmal performance since 2021, when it reported its first-ever quarterly decline in daily active users.

Facebook has 2.064 billion daily active users, up from 2.037 billion last quarter. The growth is to the delight of the company’s investors, who have had to endure about two years of losses following a massive drop in ad revenue spurred largely by user decline.

In 2021, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a recovery plan centered around short-form videos, which was subsequently introduced across the company’s major platforms.

The growth is thought to be attributed, in part, to Reels, Meta’s TikTok-inspired feature that has been extensively promoted on Instagram and Facebook. Zuckerberg stated that Reels receive a staggering 200 billion plays each day across the entire family of apps.

Meta’s user base is rising amid the frenzy of Threads, its new text-based social platform that’s tied with Instagram which has seen millions of signups in its first week.

“I think we have the most exciting roadmap ahead that I’ve seen in a while,” Zuckerberg said enthusiastically. “We saw unprecedented growth out of the gate, and more importantly, we’re seeing more people coming back daily than I expected.”

Threads rapidly amassed 100 million users within just five days of its launch. While not all of these users may become dedicated Threads posters, Zuckerberg’s recent post indicates that “tens of millions” are returning daily, a remarkable achievement.

The CEO said the plan is to get Threads up to a billion users – offering an alternate real-time online conversation platform to thousands of people who feel dissatisfied about how Twitter is being run by its new owner Elon Musk.

“It will take some time, but I think there should be a public conversation app with 1 billion+ on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will,” Zuckerberg said on Threads.

Opolo Global, in collaboration with the Computer Services and Information Technology Directorate of the University of Ilorin, has successfully organized the 2023 DCOMSIT Prize Award Final Presentation at the Faculty of Agriculture Lecture Theatre, University of Ilorin. The event, held on 25th July, 2023, attracted enthusiastic students, researchers, and faculty members from various disciplines. The Award was aimed to promote innovation, enterprise, and digital skills among participants and as well foster research commercialization in the university. The grand finale featured five innovative presentations from students among whom the top three solutions were awarded valuable prizes.

In her welcome speech, Prof. Oluwakemi Abikoye, Chairperson of the DCOMSIT Prize Award Committee, commended the Director of Computer Services and Information Technology, Prof. Dupe Ademola-Popoola, for initiating the event. She applauded Opolo Global’s support as the technical partner, which transformed the event into a resounding success beyond the original plan. Prof. Abikoye encouraged the participants to make the most of this rare opportunity to showcase their research ideas and entrepreneurial endeavors.

Representing the Chairman of Opolo Global, Dr. Segun Aina, OFR, Head of Special Projects, Mr. Deji Ajani, delivered a goodwill message and keynote address. In his address, Ajani emphasized the importance of focusing on innovative solutions that address both local and global challenges. He underscored the partnership between Opolo Global and the University which is aiming to provide platforms for innovators to build and scale solutions that benefit all stakeholders, including the University.

He noted that the proposed innovation hub is well underway, with numerous programmes that will benefit the entire University ecosystem. He emphasized Opolo Global’s commitment to nurturing young talents and entrepreneurial spirits of students and researchers as demonstrated by the partnership with the university. He then announced that the top five innovations presented at the event would gain admission to the prestigious Opolo Incubation Programme, a valuable opportunity worth millions of Naira. Furthermore, these innovations will be considered for admission to the esteemed 1st tier Opolo-UNILORIN Startup Ecosystem, opening up doors for further growth and development.

The distinguished panel of judges, consisting of experts in different fields, had the task of assessing the five presentations from students in the Colleges/Faculties of Health Sciences, Engineering as well as Communication and Information Sciences. The presentations covered a wide range of solutions, including Market Mate, an innovative WhatsApp bot designed to ease market visitation for busy individuals, and Tripa, a bus card payment app aimed at providing cashless transportation for students.

The ideas presented also included a Surveillance Drone, offering IoT-based security solutions, and an IoT-enabled Smart Water Management System for households.

Overall, Studconnect, an AI-based digital solution facilitating connections between students and property owners for apartment rentals emerged as the winning solution while Surveillance Drone and IoT-baased Smart Water Management System emerged first and second runners up respectively. The event was concluded with the presentation of gifts and awards to the top three winners by  Engr. Musiliu Adebayo Lawal and Prof. Dupe Ademola-Popoola.

The success of the 2023 DCOMSIT Prize Award presentation demonstrated the potential of the Nigerian students and researchers to create innovative solutions that address real-world challenges. With Opolo Global’s support and the University of Ilorin’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and digital skills, the future looks promising for innovative initiatives within the institution and beyond.