Samsung May Secure Major AMD Chip and Memory Orders

While Samsung’s memory business is seeing skyrocketing performance, its foundry unit has begun gaining solid momentum. The two businesses could soon secure major new orders from AMD, as the GPU maker’s CEO, Lisa Su, is reportedly visiting Korea this week. The CEO could discuss the memory supply chain and chip manufacturing with Samsung.

Samsung memory and foundry in focus as AMD CEO plans visits to Korea

According to a report from Edaily, CEO Su could meet Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jeon Young-hyun, head of the Semiconductor (DS) division. At another meeting, she could also meet Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. They last met in person in the US in December, making this their first meeting in three months.

The meetings are likely about long-term supply agreements for memory products, such as DRAM and NAND flash. Moreover, they may talk about the supply of the 6th-generation HBM4 chip that will power AMD’s latest MI450 AI accelerator series.

Apart from memory, the executives may discuss collaboration in chip production. AMD could allocate some of its chip manufacturing to Samsung. While the Korean foundry previously made chips using a 14nm process, the contract amount was not significant, like the recent Tesla deal.

“I understand that Samsung and AMD are coordinating plans to publicly disclose the details of this collaboration,” said an industry insider, “The strategic importance of Samsung Semiconductor will be highlighted once again.”

Industry watchers say that if Samsung Foundry secures orders for AMD chips, the company could bounce back in the chip-making business. This will also improve its standing as a global alternative to TSMC. Early forecasts predicted that Samsung Foundry could return to profit next year (it lost around 7 trillion won last year), thanks to the Tesla contracts. Now, if AMD places substantial orders, the outlook could improve even further. We’ll share updates from the meeting as they appear.