[Exclusive] Chairman Lee Jae-yong visits Samsung Electronics' HBM production site in Cheonan...3 years after 2023 - 매일경제

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the company's Cheonan Campus in South Chungcheong Province on February 23, 2024, marking his first visit to the site in approximately three years... Read original →

Lee Jae-yong’s visit to Cheonan is a strategic signal, not ceremonial—it underscores Samsung’s push to assert technological sovereignty in HBM. The rapid rollout of HBM4 and HBM4E is triggering a cascade effect across the advanced packaging stack, pressuring TSMC’s CoWoS ecosystem and SK hynix’s HBM3E roadmap. Geopolitically, U.S. CHIPS Act incentives are reshoring backend capacity, compelling Samsung to localize high-value processes in Korea—at higher compliance costs. With Micron accelerating HBM4 validation and SK hynix locking in NVIDIA allocations, Samsung’s 12-layer HBM4E samples aim to seize AI memory specification leadership. Over the next 18 months, the battleground will shift from bandwidth specs to yield stability; if Samsung fails to push Cheonan’s HBM yield beyond 85%, its early-mover edge could evaporate.