Samsung is raking in insane profits, but history has never indulged the king of the cycle!

Samsung is expected to earn $217 billion this year, which is more than the total of the past 40 years. What does that mean? It’s like topping New Zealand’s GDP, buying Ford + General Motors + Hyundai, and still having 80 billion left over. Spread across every Korean person, that’s a net gain of $4,204 per head.

The AI dividend is real—Korea is definitely cashing in hard. But anyone familiar with the script knows what comes after the boom in profit against the cycle: capacity expansion, capital expenditures, and competitors being fought tooth and nail. From DRAM to panels, Koreans have ridden this roller coaster more than once.

When you’re making the most money is often when you’re closest to the turning point. What I’m more concerned about is: where does this money go? And when will Chinese manufacturers start tearing open their pricing strongholds?

Cycles are a thing that never care how much you’ve earned—what’s coming will always come.