Foreign investors are retreating from Samsung Electronics, dumping over 22 trillion won ($15 billion) in shares over the past six months, driving foreign ownership below 50% for the first time in two years. /News1

Foreign investors are pulling back from Samsung Electronics, selling over 22 trillion won ($15 billion) worth of shares in the past six months. This sell-off has pushed foreign ownership below 50% for the first time since Jan. 2023.

As of Feb. 3, data from the Korea Exchange (KRX) shows that foreign investors hold a 49.99% stake in Samsung Electronics. The last time this figure fell below 50% was on Jan. 12, 2023.

Analysts point to a mix of declining semiconductor demand and weak performance as key reasons behind foreign investors’ sell-off. Between Sept. 2024 and January this year, foreign investors offloaded $15.6 billion worth of Samsung Electronics stock.

Samsung is struggling across all sectors—memory chips, artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, and foundry services—falling behind competitors.

A telling example is the decision to equip the upcoming Galaxy S25 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor instead of Samsung’s in-house Exynos chip. Addressing this, Roh Tae-moon, head of Samsung’s MX Division, said, “Since the Galaxy S1, we have always prioritized choosing the best application processor (AP) for our devices.”

Adding to Samsung’s challenges, China’s AI company Deepseek is shaking up the industry. Deepseek recently unveiled its AI model “R1,” emphasizing that it required fewer low-cost, low-performance chips. This development could hurt demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which Samsung supplies to various clients.

Deepseek spent about $5.57 million to develop R1, which is approximately one-eighteenth of the cost associated with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The company used 2,048 units of Nvidia’s “H800″ chips, which are 30–40% less powerful than the “H100″ chips used by OpenAI but still met their needs.

In response, Samsung said during a Jan. 31 conference call that industry dynamics are constantly changing with technological advancements, making it too early to draw definitive conclusions based on limited information. The company added that both long-term opportunities and short-term risks exist in the market and that it will closely monitor industry trends to respond quickly to the fast-evolving AI landscape.

Despite these headwinds, analysts remain optimistic about Samsung’s outlook. Lee Jong-wook, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, “If Samsung demonstrates a recovery in technological competitiveness and introduces a shareholder return program, there’s a strong possibility that its stock price will rebound in the first half of the year.” He added, “While first-quarter earnings may fall short of expectations, confirming a bottom in quarterly profits is a positive sign.”