Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are making a coordinated push to capture a larger share of the booming AI semiconductor market, with executives from both companies meeting major technology firms this week to secure foundry and memory chip orders. Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won are attending high-profile industry events where they are expected to discuss AI chip partnerships with companies including Apple, Amazon, OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Tesla.

Why Are Samsung and SK hynix Competing So Aggressively Right Now?

The timing of these executive visits reflects the intense competition for AI infrastructure contracts. SK hynix is capitalizing on its recent American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing on Nasdaq, which raised approximately 43 trillion Korean won (roughly $33 billion USD) to fund new semiconductor manufacturing facilities and equipment purchases. Meanwhile, Samsung's foundry business is positioning itself as an alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which currently dominates advanced chip production for major tech companies.

Both companies are targeting the same high-value customers. According to reports, Samsung Foundry previously secured an order for iPhone image sensor chips from Apple and is now aiming to join Apple's application processor supply chain, which TSMC currently serves. Beyond Apple, Amazon and OpenAI represent particularly attractive targets because both companies are developing their own in-house AI chips to compete with NVIDIA and already purchase High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) from Samsung Electronics.

What Specific Opportunities Are These Companies Pursuing?

The competitive landscape for AI semiconductors includes several distinct product categories and opportunities:

• High Bandwidth Memory (HBM): Samsung and SK hynix both manufacture HBM chips, which are essential components in AI systems because they allow processors to access large amounts of data quickly. Both companies are competing to supply HBM to AI chip developers and cloud infrastructure providers.
• Foundry Services: Samsung's foundry business manufactures custom chips designed by other companies. The company is actively pursuing orders from major technology firms to produce application processors and AI accelerators, positioning itself as a counterweight to TSMC's market dominance.
• Advanced Packaging Technology: SK hynix is investing in advanced packaging facilities, including the Cheongju P&T7 fab, which will support next-generation chip packaging techniques. These facilities are critical for producing densely stacked memory chips required by AI systems.

SK hynix Chairman Chey Tae-won's attendance at the Nasdaq ADR listing ceremony on July 10 local time is being viewed as a strategic effort to showcase the company's AI memory competitiveness and long-term growth potential to global investors. The ADR offering involves the issuance of up to 17.79 million new shares, representing approximately 2.5 percent of the company's total outstanding shares.

How Are These Companies Investing in Next-Generation Chip Technology?

Both Samsung and SK hynix are making substantial capital commitments to support future AI chip demand. SK hynix's ADR proceeds will fund construction of its first fab at the Yongin semiconductor cluster, the Cheongju P&T7 advanced packaging facility, and the purchase of manufacturing equipment including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scanners. These investments signal confidence in long-term demand for advanced memory and packaging technologies.

The competitive environment is also being shaped by emerging technologies. South Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has developed a chip stacking technology that can stably stack more than 10 layers of ultra-thin semiconductor chips, achieving an integration density approximately four times higher than conventional 12-layer HBM. While POSTECH's breakthrough is an academic development, it demonstrates the rapid pace of innovation in memory chip architecture and suggests that future generations of HBM could offer significantly greater capacity and performance.

The POSTECH technology combines transfer printing, which precisely positions chips, and in-situ bonding, which simultaneously forms metal interconnections during transfer, completing chip transfer, bonding, and electrical connection in a single step. The process enables stable stacking of ultra-thin chips at temperatures below 180 degrees Celsius and pressures below 20 kilopascals, with minimal interlayer alignment errors and significantly reduced chip warpage.

What Does This Mean for the Broader AI Chip Market?

The aggressive pursuit of foundry and memory chip orders by Samsung and SK hynix reflects the massive capital requirements and competitive intensity of the AI infrastructure market. As companies like Amazon and OpenAI develop proprietary AI chips to reduce their dependence on NVIDIA, they need reliable manufacturing partners and memory suppliers. Samsung and SK hynix are positioning themselves as essential partners in this ecosystem.

The stakes are particularly high for Samsung's foundry business, which has historically lagged TSMC in advanced chip manufacturing. Securing orders from major technology companies would validate Samsung's manufacturing capabilities and provide a foothold in the lucrative AI chip market. For SK hynix, the focus on HBM and advanced packaging reflects the company's strategic positioning as a memory specialist serving the AI infrastructure boom.

These developments underscore how the semiconductor industry is reshaping itself around AI demand. Rather than competing primarily on consumer electronics, Samsung and SK hynix are now competing for contracts to supply the chips and memory that power artificial intelligence systems. The outcome of these negotiations at industry conferences this week could significantly influence the competitive dynamics of the AI chip market for years to come.