Ever since the retrial of Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong's bribery case began last year, uncertainties regarding the company's leadership have been growing. He issued a public apology last month and had to appear in the South Korean court earlier this month, and a possible arrest has been hanging over his head. Lee has been conducting high-profile meetings since his arrest warrant was denied two weeks ago.
Today, Samsung's Vice Chairman visited a chip R&D center in South Korea to check up on the company's future strategy. He discussed various issues, including the ones about chips, with senior executives of the R&D center in Hwaseong towards the south of Seoul. Post-COVID-19 plans and strategies were also discussed. This is the second time Lee visited the chip R&D center and emphasized the need for future competitiveness.
Lee said, “We are in a situation facing severe risk. Our survival depends on how fast we can secure future technologies. We do not have much time.” Samsung Group heir had visited the R&D center on January 2 earlier this year. His second visit happened amid COVID-19 uncertainties and renewed China-USA trade tensions. He had recently visited the memory plant in Xi'an, China, to oversee the expansion plan.
Samsung aims to become the number one logic chip maker by 2030 and has announced a mega plan to invest $115 billion for improvements in logic chip designing and semiconductor manufacturing. The South Korean firm has already invested in increasing the chip production efficiency and the development of advanced chip fabrication technologies such as 5nm and GAA 3nm.
