Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has embarked on a two-week business trip to the U.S. to meet executives of big tech companies and political figures. He is expected to hold around 30 business meetings daily, averaging more than two per day.
The primary objective of Lee’s trip is to forge stronger collaborations with U.S. companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence, automotive semiconductors, and next-generation mobile communication technologies. These partnerships are crucial for Samsung as it seeks to regain its leadership in the semiconductor sector, having lost the top spot in sales to Intel last year. Samsung also plans to bolster its presence in the AI phone market with devices equipped with advanced AI functions.
Lee left for the U.S. after attending the annual Samsung Ho-Am Prize ceremony on May 31, according to Samsung Electronics on June 6. His trip started in New York City and will extend to Silicon Valley.
Lee met Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg in New York City on June 4 to discuss cooperation on the next-generation telecommunications business and sales of new Galaxy smartphone products. Samsung aims to boost sales of its first AI-powered phone, the Galaxy S24, in the North American market.
Much attention is focused on whether Lee will meet with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang again during this trip, as he did last year. The future competitiveness of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business could be boosted if it passes Nvidia’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) delivery test. Last year, Chairman Lee spent 22 days in the U.S. from April to May, meeting with CEOs of leading tech companies, including Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Satya Nadella of Microsoft.
