South Korean President Lee’s trip to Silicon Valley this week is set to produce a flurry of semiconductor supply agreements. Samsung and SK Hynix, the country’s two largest memory chip makers, will announce major deals with U.S. tech firms during the visit, according to people familiar with the plans.
What the deals involve
The agreements are expected to cover high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in artificial intelligence accelerators and data center servers. Samsung and SK Hynix have been racing to expand production capacity to meet surging demand from companies like Nvidia, AMD, and cloud providers. The deals could lock in multi-year supply commitments worth billions of dollars.
Why the timing matters
The announcements come as the Biden administration pushes to onshore advanced chip manufacturing through the CHIPS Act. South Korea’s president is also seeking to deepen economic ties with the U.S. amid growing competition with China. The visit underscores how critical Korean memory suppliers have become to the American tech ecosystem.
What’s next
The specific U.S. companies involved have not been named, but the deals are expected to be formally announced during President Lee’s meetings with tech executives later this week. Investors will be watching for details on volume, pricing, and duration of the agreements.
