The drop is primarily due to lack of demand and overproduction in memory chips. From the Financial Times:
Samsung Electronics reported a 95 per cent drop in first-quarter profits on Thursday, as tech demand remained sluggish in the face of inflation and higher interest rates.
The Korean semiconductor giant’s operating profit fell to Won640bn ($478.6mn) from Won14.12tn in the first three months of 2022, amid a sharp drop in global demand for memory chips. The results were consistent with estimates released earlier this month, when Samsung said it would make a “meaningful” cut in memory production to ease a glut.
On Thursday the company said it expected a “limited demand recovery” as major cloud service providers invest more conservatively and customers adjust their inventories.