Intel CEO And Samsung VC Meet Amid Global Semcondutor Shortage: Here's What It Means

In what could lead to "deeper cooperation" and potential semiconductor collaboration, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Vice Chairperson of Samsung Electronics Lee Jae-yong met in South Korea.

The meeting between the top Intel and Samsung execs comes at a time of global semiconductor crisis. Image: Getty

New Delhi: In what could lead to "deeper cooperation" and potential semiconductor collaboration, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Vice Chairperson of Samsung Electronics Lee Jae-yong met in South Korea. Samsung was quoted as saying in a statement by datacenterdynamics.com, that the two tech leaders “discussed how to cooperate between the two companies". The meeting between the top Intel and Samsung execs comes at a time of global semiconductor crisis.

It should be noted that both Intel and Samsung compete with the world's largest contract semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, popularly known as TSMC. However, it is not known if the talks between Gelsinger and Jae-yong addressed a particular issue or will lead to a collaboration in the near future.

It should be noted that both the tech majors have plenty of products, but they hardly overlap. While Intel has allocated tens of billions into expanding its newly-launched foundry business, Samsung has also invested heavily into its chip fabs, but most of its CPUs are Arm chips for its own hardware.

US President Joe Biden visited South Korea recently and toured a nearby semiconductor plant of Samsung Electronics.

"...And when it comes to the most advanced chips, like the ones made here at Samsung — it’s only one of only three companies in the world that makes these chips.  It’s an incredible — an incredible achievement.

"And Vice Chairman Lee, thank you for welcoming us to this Samsung semiconductor facility.  This is an auspicious start for my visit because it’s emblematic of the future of cooperation and innovation that our nations can and must build together," Biden said in a statement after visiting Samsung's Pyeongtaek Campus.

Earlier in March, chipset making titan Intel chose a site in Germany to set up its huge complex for manufacturing chipsets. The company had announced a whopping $88 billion or up to 80 billion euros investment in Europe amid the ongoing global chipset crisis. The company had also outlined 33 billion euros as an initial investment in Europe. The investment is focused around balancing the global semiconductor supply chain with a major expansion of Intel’s production capacities in Europe.