▲ Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang poses for a photo after meeting with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung at a chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, Seoul, on October 30 last year.
The artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy is revitalizing semiconductor companies, leading to an analysis that tech hegemony is shifting toward Asia, with South Korea and Taiwan at the center.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on June 16 (local time) that as major tech companies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into data centers, demand for memory chips required to power AI is outpacing supply.
Semiconductor chips serve as the brains of AI, and as AI models have grown rapidly in recent years, the importance of chips for processing information has increased accordingly.
The NYT pointed out that this trend is ultimately reshaping the map of tech hegemony.
In particular, the newspaper identified South Korea and Taiwan as the leading nations in the production of cutting-edge memory chips.
It noted that there are currently only three companies capable of producing top-tier memory chips: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in South Korea, and the U.S. firm Micron, which operates advanced facilities in Taiwan.
Just over a decade ago, memory was a cheap commodity whose price was determined by the whims of tech giants. However, as supply shortages have intensified, prices have more than doubled this year.
This is also why Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who stands at the center of the AI boom, has repeatedly visited South Korea to meet with companies like Samsung and SK Hynix.
Amid the semiconductor boom, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron have entered the $1 trillion market cap club, and the South Korean stock market is also enjoying a period of prosperity.
The NYT specifically pointed out that China is being left out of this semiconductor boom.
While China stood tall as a manufacturing hub, acting as the "world's factory" during the hardware boom 20 years ago, it is difficult to find its presence in the recent AI frenzy, the report stated.
The NYT cited U.S. tariffs and sanctions against China as the reasons.
In the past, the U.S. somewhat overlooked China's manufacturing growth for reasons such as maintaining peace between the two nations, but as China used this foundation to build competitiveness against the U.S., Washington began to keep it in check, the report explained.
Indeed, despite pouring massive investments over several years, not a single Chinese company has yet made it into the cutting-edge AI supply chain.
Of course, it is difficult to gauge how long the semiconductor boom will last.
While demand for memory is skyrocketing, debates over an "AI bubble" persist.
Timothy Arcuri, an analyst at investment bank UBS, assessed the semiconductor sector by stating, "It was a boring industry that nobody cared about, but now it has become the most important core infrastructure industry in the world." He added, "Basically, we are laying the road right now, and all commercial activity will take place on that road in the future."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.