Samsung's Lee holds chip talks with Carl Zeiss CEO

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with Carl Zeiss CEO Karl Lamprecht in Germany to ensure further cooperation in the supply of chip components, the company said on Sunday.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, second from left, takes a photo with Carl Zeiss CEO Karl Lamprecht, third from left, after taking a look at the Germany's newest equipment at its headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany, on April 26. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with Carl Zeiss CEO Karl Lamprecht in Germany to ensure further cooperation in the technology of chip components, the company said on Sunday.

Lee and Lamprecht vowed to expand their partnership in chip components for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, which is used in a manufacturing process that can print nodes of less than 10 nanometers in width, during their meeting held on Friday at the German company's headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany.

Zeiss is an exclusive supplier of optical systems to the Netherlands-based ASML for use in their EUV lithography machines. Zeiss owns more than 2,000 patents globally related to EUV technologies.

ASML is the world’s only producer of EUV lithography machines. The company uses around 30,000 pieces of Zeiss equipment to produce the machines. In 2016, ASML acquired 24.9 percent of Carl Zeiss SMT, Zeiss' semiconductor subsidiary, for 1 billion euros.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, far left, talks with Carl Zeiss CEO Karl Lamprecht, far right, during his visit to the German company's headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany, on April 26. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Lee shared Samsung's technology roadmap for chips and toured Zeiss's manufacturing facilities.

"The latest technological partnership with Zeiss will help Samsung to improve the performance of next-generation chips, optimize its production process and advance yields," Samsung Electronics said in a statement.

Samsung Electronics aims to mass-produce an advanced sixth-generation 10-nanometer class process technology for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) within the year.

The two's partnership will accelerate as Zeiss plans to invest 48 billion won through 2026 to build a research development (R&D) center in Korea, Samsung added.

Lee's latest overseas trip will continue to France and Italy for further business meetings and inspection of European chip markets.

The visit to Germany marks Lee's first overseas trip in two months. In February, he visited Malaysia to inspect plants of Samsung SDI, its battery-making subsidiary.

Lee is betting big on the AI custom chip market to push up capital expenditures to manufacture high-performing chips designed to support AI training. Lee held meetings with various global tech giants, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg in February, ASML CEO Peter Wennink in December and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in May last year.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, far right, takes a look at Carl Zeiss products during his visit to the German company's headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany, on April 26. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]