Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong recently visited the headquarters of Zeiss in Oberkochen, Germany, to discuss strengthening cooperation on semiconductor production technologies, specifically within the area of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment. This visit, which took place on the 26th, underscores Samsung’s strategy to enhance its position in the highly competitive semiconductor foundry market.
During his visit, Chairman Lee met with Zeiss CEO Karl Lamprecht and other senior executives to explore potential synergies between the two companies. They were joined by Jaehyuk Song, Chief Technology Officer of Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) Division, and Seokwoo Nam, President of Manufacturing & Technology at DS Division. Discussions focused on leveraging Zeiss’s extensive portfolio of over 2,000 EUV-related patents and their critical role in supplying optical systems for ASML, the sole provider of EUV equipment necessary for advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes, including foundry and DRAM microprocessing.
Samsung and Zeiss agreed to deepen their collaboration on EUV technology and other advanced semiconductor equipment. Samsung aims to commence processes for sub-3nm foundry and the 6th generation 10nm level DRAM within the year, anticipating that this enhanced cooperation will lead to improvements in next-generation semiconductor performance, production efficiency, and yield rates.
Furthermore, Zeiss has committed to investing 48 billion won (around $34.8 million) in establishing a research and development center in Korea by 2016, reinforcing its strategic partnership with Samsung. This move is part of a broader effort by Chairman Lee to fortify Samsung’s semiconductor operations. His recent engagements with industry leaders like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Peter Bennink of ASML, and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA illustrate a concerted push to advance Samsung’s AI semiconductor capabilities.
In addition to its collaborative ventures, Samsung continues to expand its system semiconductor and foundry investments. Its latest application processor, the ‘Exynos 2400’, is featured in the new ‘Galaxy S24/24 Plus’ smartphone, while its image sensors and display driver chips maintain leading positions in the global market. Moreover, Samsung is nearing the commercialization of its neural network processing unit (NPU), further cementing its technological prowess in the semiconductor domain.
