SK Group chief Chey Tae-won arrives in Taiwan to tighten ties with TSMC

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SK Group chief Chey Tae-won arrives in Taiwan to tighten ties with TSMC

Published: 10 Apr. 2025, 19:22 Updated: 10 Apr. 2025, 19:59

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, shakes hands with TSMC Chairman and CEO Che Chia Wei at the Taiwanese foundry's headquarters in Tapei, Taiwan, on June 6, 2024. [SK GROUP]

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has touched down in Taiwan alongside SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung on offical business as the Korean chipmaker looks to strengthen ties with TSMC for mass production of its next-generation AI memory chips.

The visit, which comes amid growing global uncertainty around semiconductor supply chains, includes scheduled meetings with key Taiwanese chip firms, an SK Group official confirmed Thursday.

Chey’s last official trip to Taiwan was in June, when he and Kwak met with TSMC CEO and Chairman Che Chia Wei in Taipei. At the time, the leaders agreed to expand cooperation in high bandwidth memory (HBM), a critical component for AI applications.

SK hynix and TSMC are currently co-developing HBM4, the sixth generation of the technology, which has become central to the race for dominance in AI semiconductors. Their HBM4 is slated to begin mass production in the second half of 2025.

In March, SK hynix said it delivered the industry’s first 12-layer HBM4 samples to clients including Nvidia, six months ahead of schedule. The chip features the highest bandwidth and capacity in the market.

TSMC manufactures the base die for the product — the foundational layer that routes and processes data within the HBM stack.

Chey’s visit comes at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the global semiconductor supply chain, intensified by protectionist trade policies, such as those from the United States.

Taiwan plays a pivotal role in the global chip supply chain, not only as home to TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, but also as a hub for a number of key players across the semiconductor industry.

“SK is one of the few companies globally capable of handling everything from semiconductors to energy, to data center operations and services development,” Chey said at the SK AI Summit in November. “We aim to overcome AI bottlenecks and bring better AI into our lives faster to accelerate global innovation.”

SK hynix plans to showcase its HBM4 and advanced packaging solutions at the TSMC Technology Symposium in Santa Clara, California, on April 23. It also participated in last year’s event, where it unveiled its HBM3E chip. The annual symposium gathers TSMC’s key partners to share next-gen chip designs and system innovations.

As SK hynix doubles down on HBM and AI-related memory products, its HBM4 collaboration with TSMC is expected to become increasingly strategic in maintaining its edge over competitors to maintain its lead in the market.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY PARK HAE-LEE [[email protected]]