(C) The Investor

YONGIN/HWASEONG — Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has officially commenced a high-profile inspection of the company’s Device Solutions (DS) division, signaling a proactive stance in navigating the burgeoning semiconductor "super cycle." This site visit comes just one week after Lee returned from a strategic business trip to the United States, where he met with leaders of major global big-tech firms.

According to industry sources on Monday, Chairman Lee visited Samsung’s semiconductor production hubs in Giheung and Hwaseong. The primary focus of his visit was NRD-K, the company’s next-generation Research and Development (R&D) complex. NRD-K is envisioned as a central technological fortress where Samsung aims to secure a "super-gap" lead across memory, system LSI, and foundry sectors. During his tour, Lee scrutinized the current state of fundamental research, product development, and infrastructure construction.

The Giheung campus holds immense symbolic value for the tech giant. It is the birthplace of Samsung’s semiconductor success story, following the historic "Tokyo Declaration" in 1983. The site witnessed the world's first development of 64Mb DRAM in 1992 and catapulted the company to the top of the memory market by 1993. Lee’s return to this location underscores a commitment to reclaiming that pioneering spirit amid shifting market dynamics.

The chairman's visit is largely interpreted as a move to finalize strategies for 2026 and to boost employee morale following a period of explosive growth. Samsung’s semiconductor business entered a sharp upward trajectory in the third quarter of 2025, fueled by a resurgence in general-purpose DRAM and the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) market.

Financial analysts are painting a highly optimistic picture of Samsung’s fiscal health. Market consensus suggests that the Memory Division’s operating profit, which stood at approximately 6.35 trillion won in the first half of the year, will soar to over 23 trillion won in the second half. Some brokerages have even projected that Samsung Electronics’ total consolidated operating profit could surpass the milestone of 100 trillion won next year, driven by the sustained semiconductor boom.

Technologically, Samsung is hitting its stride. The company is reportedly making smooth progress in supplying 6th-generation HBM4 to Nvidia, following highly favorable evaluations. Furthermore, Samsung beat competitors in providing samples of "LPCAMM2," a next-generation DRAM module based on LPDDR, for which Nvidia is currently driving new industry standards.

The foundry business, which previously faced significant losses, is also showing signs of a robust turnaround. After securing a massive 23-trillion-won contract with Tesla earlier this year, Samsung is reportedly close to finalizing an agreement with AMD for 2nm process chips. During his recent U.S. trip, Lee met with CEOs from Tesla, AMD, Meta, Intel, Qualcomm, and Verizon, further cementing these critical partnerships.

Through this hands-on leadership at the R&D frontlines, Chairman Lee is emphasizing that technological supremacy remains the only way to sustain momentum in an increasingly competitive global landscape.