AMD CEO Lisa Su to meet Samsung chip head in Seoul as memory shortage bites
In short
AMD chief executive Lisa Su plans to meet Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business head and vice chairman Jun Young-hyun on Wednesday during a visit to South Korea, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting comes as a broad shortage of memory products and rising memory prices constrain AI infrastructure and services expansion. Samsung and AMD declined to comment; the two companies reached a supply agreement in March covering next-generation high-bandwidth memory and advanced memory chips.
Read the full story 1 min read
AMD chief executive Lisa Su plans to meet Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business head, vice chairman Jun Young-hyun, on Wednesday during a visit to South Korea, people familiar with the matter said, according to CLS, IT Home and 36Kr. IT Home, citing Bloomberg, said the trip is the second time in seven months that Su has visited Seoul. Specifics of the talks were not disclosed, and both Samsung and AMD declined to comment, CLS and 36Kr reported. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
The meeting takes place as the global electronics industry faces a broad shortage of memory products, which the documents say is constraining the expansion of AI infrastructure and services. Memory prices have kept climbing and have become one of the main cost items for data centre operators, according to CLS and IT Home. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
AMD and Samsung already reached a supply agreement in March covering next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced memory chips, the documents said. IT Home and cnBeta added that Samsung and SK Hynix supply the HBM needed for many of the world's advanced AI accelerator chips, and that South Korea is coordinating about $880 billion of investment by companies including the two chipmakers in AI-era digital infrastructure and data centres. Korean telecom operators, manufacturers and internet platforms are also increasing investment in AI data centres and next-generation enterprise services, they said. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
Jiemian gave a different account of Su's day, reporting that she would meet the head of a South Korean neural processing unit (NPU) maker on the morning of Oct 7, attend an “AMD Gamer Day” event in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon, and give a media interview afterwards. Jiemian's report did not mention a meeting with Samsung's semiconductor head. [ 4 ]
Why it matters
Samsung and AMD sit at two points of the AI hardware chain: Samsung supplies high-bandwidth memory used in advanced AI accelerators, while AMD builds the accelerators. Continued memory scarcity and rising memory prices push up costs for data centre operators and limit how fast AI services can be expanded. The talks also touch South Korea's position as both a major AI hardware supplier and a large market.
Key facts
- AMD CEO Lisa Su plans to meet Samsung Electronics semiconductor business head and vice chairman Jun Young-hyun on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- The talks take place during Su's visit to South Korea; specific details were not disclosed. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Samsung and AMD both declined to comment. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The meeting comes amid a broad shortage of memory products that is constraining the expansion of AI infrastructure and services, with memory prices rising and becoming a major cost for data centre operators. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
- In March, AMD and Samsung reached a supply agreement covering next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced memory chips. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
- The trip is Su's second visit to Seoul within seven months, according to IT Home, citing Bloomberg. [ 2 ]
- South Korea is coordinating investment of about $880 billion by companies including Samsung and SK Hynix in AI-era digital infrastructure and data centres. [ 2 , 5 ]
- Jiemian reported that Su would meet the head of a South Korean NPU maker on the morning of Oct 7 and attend an “AMD Gamer Day” event in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon, followed by a media interview. [ 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- AMD CEO Lisa Su plans to meet Samsung Electronics semiconductor business head and vice chairman Jun Young-hyun. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- Samsung and AMD declined to comment on the meeting. [ 1 , 3 ]
- AMD and Samsung reached a supply agreement in March covering next-generation HBM and advanced memory chips. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
- A broad shortage of memory products is constraining the expansion of AI infrastructure and services, and memory prices have been rising. [ 1 , 2 , 5 ]
- South Korea is pushing companies including Samsung and SK Hynix to invest about $880 billion in digital infrastructure and AI data centres. [ 2 , 5 ]
Still unclear
- What Su and Jun will discuss, and whether the meeting is confirmed by either company. The documents say details were not disclosed and both companies declined to comment, so the meeting rests on unnamed sources.
- How the Samsung meeting fits Su's published schedule for Oct 7. Jiemian, a single outlet, describes a morning meeting with an NPU maker's head and an afternoon AMD Gamer Day event in Seoul, and does not mention a Samsung meeting; other documents describe only the Samsung meeting.
- The size or terms of any new memory supply arrangement that might follow the talks. The documents mention only the March agreement and give no details of new deals.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- CLS reports that AMD CEO Lisa Su plans to meet Samsung semiconductor head Jun Young-hyun on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. [ 1 ]
- IT Home, citing Bloomberg, reports the planned meeting and that it is Su's second visit to Seoul in seven months. [ 2 ]
- Jiemian reports Su is visiting South Korea after seven months, meeting a Korean NPU maker's head in the morning and attending an AMD Gamer Day event in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon. [ 4 ]