Samsung heir meets ASML head to enhance cooperation

Samsung Electronic Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong met top executives of Dutch semiconductor equipment provider ASML, the company said Wednesday.

Lee held a meeting with Peter Wennink, ASML’s chief executive officer, and Martin van den Brink, chief technology officer, in which they discussed supply and operation plans for extreme ultraviolet equipment that is needed for production of chips on 7-nanometer processes and below.

They also talked about increasing cooperation on next-generation manufacturing technologies for future semiconductors for artificial intelligence as well as strategies to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kim Ki-nam, vice chairman of Samsung’s semiconductor business accompanied the heir in the meeting.

The last time Lee met the ASML executives was in February 2019 in Paris, France.

Samsung and ASML have worked together on EUV technologies since early 2000. Samsung currently holds a 1.5 percent stake in the Dutch company.

Samsung kick-started its EUV line for foundry customers in Hwaseong in February and is preparing to produce DRAM chips with EUV technology at its second memory plant Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Lee had departed for the Netherlands on Thursday. After visiting the ASML headquarters on Monday, Lee flew to the International Olympic Committee office in Geneva, Switzerland. Lee returned to Korea earlier Wednesday.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)