Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon is expected to meet senior executives from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix during a recent visit to South Korea, according to industry sources. The discussions are expected to focus on securing memory supplies as well as potential cooperation with Samsung in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, including its 2nm foundry process.
According to South Korean media reports, including ET News and the KED Global, Amon has been holding sequential meetings with executives from both companies to explore areas of collaboration.
Such a trip is considered unusual. While Qualcomm executives have previously met South Korean chipmakers at global conferences or industry events, a visit by the chief executive specifically to Seoul for direct talks with both Samsung and SK Hynix is seen by industry observers as rare.
Analysts say the timing reflects Qualcomm's push into the data center AI market. The company plans to commercialize its AI200 accelerator in 2026, followed by the AI250 in 2027. As Qualcomm develops a multi-year roadmap for AI inference in data centers, securing a stable memory supply has become a strategic priority.
As a result, discussions are expected to cover server-grade DRAM supply agreements, as well as potential cooperation in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and emerging server memory technologies such as SOCAMM.
Industry executives note that Amon's trip follows a broader pattern: similar visits to South Korea by leaders of Nvidia and AMD, as major chipmakers compete to lock in memory supply for AI infrastructure.
Amon is also expected to advance discussions on manufacturing Qualcomm-designed chips at Samsung's foundry. Since 2025, Qualcomm has been evaluating the feasibility of producing its latest Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 application processor using Samsung's 2-nanometer process. The visit is expected to further concretize those plans.
Article translated by Elaine Chen and edited by Jack Wu
