Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Chair and CEO Lisa Su to Return to South Korea Next Month; Eyes on Meeting with Samsung Executives

[Financial News] Lisa Su, chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), is set to visit South Korea again, seven months after her trip in March. Attention is focused on whether she will meet with key Samsung Electronics executives. During her stay, Su is also expected to meet senior government officials and leading figures in South Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor industry to discuss business cooperation.
Sources in the information technology (IT) industry said on the 30th that Su is expected to visit South Korea in early October and meet officials from major domestic companies and the government.
In particular, attention is focused on whether the visit will lead to a meeting with key Samsung Electronics executives. During her visit in March, Su met Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong at Seungjiwon in Hannam-dong, Seoul, where they discussed ways for the two companies to cooperate. This time, Lee is traveling abroad, including in the United Kingdom, so whether he meets Su is expected to depend on when he returns and his schedule in South Korea.
Earlier, during her visit in March, Su toured production lines and other facilities at the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus with key semiconductor executives, including Jun Young-hyun, head of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor (DS) division and vice chairman, and Han Jinman, head of its foundry business, or contract chipmaking unit. She also held a separate meeting with Roh Tae-moon, head of the finished-products (DX) division, at the company's Seocho office. This has fueled speculation that she will meet with other key executives.
If an executive-level meeting takes place, the two sides may review the issues discussed in March. Since last year, Samsung Electronics has supplied high-bandwidth memory (HBM)3E to AMD's AI accelerators and has continued its partnership with AMD in memory, having been designated the preferred supplier of HBM4 for use in the latest AI accelerators. As AMD is also a major manufacturer of graphics processing units (GPUs) used in DX products such as PCs, the two companies may explore cooperation centered on plans being pursued by Samsung Electronics' DX division to strengthen its competitiveness in AI PCs and premium mobile products.
Meanwhile, holding a meeting attended by Su in Seoul on the 8th is reportedly being seriously considered. Meetings are also being arranged with the CEOs of major South Korean semiconductor companies, including Rebellions, DEEPX and Mobilint. There is also speculation that Su will meet with Bae Kyung-hoon, deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT, before or after the meeting.
[email protected] Im Soo-bin Reporter