JY Discusses Collaboration with Intel... Making Efforts for Global Semiconductor Moves Despite Management Participation Restrictions

Will It Be Possible to Return to the 'Sun Valley Conference' After 5 Years of Absence?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Sunmi Park and Jinho Kim] Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, is expanding his global footprint to secure a semiconductor super-gap despite the 'management participation restrictions' imposed after the new government took office. Following his meeting with Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, to concretize the semiconductor alliance agreement between President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden, he has returned to the 'Sun Valley Conference'?which he had not attended for the past five years?raising expectations that he will support the new government's advanced industry promotion policies.

According to Samsung Electronics on the 31st, Lee met with Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO, the previous afternoon and held a relay meeting exchanging views on cooperation plans in various fields including next-generation memory, fabless system semiconductors, foundry, PC, and mobile. This meeting took place just ten days after U.S. President Biden visited Korea on the 20th and toured Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant with President Yoon, discussing the Korea-U.S. semiconductor alliance. It demonstrated their willingness to contribute to concretizing the Korea-U.S. semiconductor alliance. Industry observers expect that the cooperation between the two companies, which has continued so far, will expand further through this meeting between Vice Chairman Lee and CEO Gelsinger.

Within the industry, it is anticipated that Samsung Electronics, which aims to become the world’s number one in the system semiconductor sector centered on foundry by 2030, may collaborate with Intel in the foundry sector. Intel could produce its main product, CPUs, in-house, while outsourcing the production of other chipsets and products to Samsung Electronics and TSMC.

An industry insider said, "To resolve the global semiconductor supply-demand imbalance, cooperation with Samsung Electronics, which possesses advanced fine processes below 10 nanometers, seems inevitable for Intel." Another source added, "The meeting between Vice Chairman Lee, who leads the global semiconductor market, and Intel CEO Gelsinger will expand and accelerate the scope of cooperation between the two companies. This will contribute to resolving supply chain instability and advancing the next-generation semiconductor industry."

Since his release on parole in August last year, Lee has maintained a low profile but has shown active movements to strengthen semiconductor competitiveness with the new government in place. This signifies his support for President Yoon, who has emphasized securing a semiconductor super-gap amid global efforts to foster the semiconductor industry.

During the visit of President Yoon and President Biden to Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant on the 20th, Lee personally guided the tour inside the factory despite his parole status. Despite restrictions on management participation, he made a bold decision to invest 450 trillion won over five years until 2026 in semiconductors, bio, and next-generation communications.

In particular, it is expected that he will return to international business events such as the 'Sun Valley Conference,' which he has not attended for the past five years due to being hampered by 'judicial risks.' The 'Sun Valley Conference' is an international business meeting held every July in Sun Valley, a resort area in Idaho, USA. It is known as a 'billionaire social club' because global media and IT industry giants such as Google, Apple, Microsoft (MS), News Corporation, and Time Warner are major invitees.

Looking at the attendees, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, News Corporation founder Rupert Murdoch, and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, one can infer the nature of the conference.

The reason why attendance at the 'Sun Valley Conference' is attracting attention is that significant business deals take place there. Samsung Electronics supplies semiconductors for smartphones and tablet PCs to Apple and has a cooperative relationship with Google by adopting the Android operating system for its Galaxy S smartphones.

Especially, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which Samsung Electronics is focusing on as future growth engines, are highly likely to be conducted there. In fact, Lee once said in court in 2017 while detained, "Sun Valley is the busiest and most important business trip of the year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.