Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong appears at the Sun Valley Summit, heading straight to Apple, Amazon, and OpenAI to seek orders.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong appeared at this year's Sun Valley Summit alongside the head of the company's wafer foundry business, turning this annual gathering of global technology and business elites into an intensive order offensive. At a critical juncture where TSMC's capacity is nearing saturation and Samsung is accelerating advanced process development, the lineup for this trip clearly sends a signal: Samsung is prioritizing breakthroughs in its wafer foundry business above all else.

According to Korean industry sources, Lee Jae-yong arrived at the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, USA, on July 7 and immediately commenced the conference agenda.

Unlike last year, when he brought the global marketing leader, this year he brought President Han Jin-man, who was just appointed head of the wafer foundry division at the end of last year—a change interpreted externally as Samsung shifting its focus from branding to substantive business negotiations. Han Jin-man previously managed North American semiconductor business and has deep connections within the U.S. tech industry, making him a key figure for unlocking major clients.

This year’s summit brings together tech giants like Apple CEO Tim Cook and incoming CEO John Ternus, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Arm CEO Rene Haas, and General Motors Chair Mary Barra. All these companies have existing or potential cooperative relationships with Samsung, providing a highly concentrated window for Lee Jae-yong’s business talks.

Apple Processor Orders Are the Biggest Focus

The most watched aspect of this summit is the potential cooperation progress between Samsung and Apple.

Apple sent an unusually strong three-person team: current CEO Tim Cook, incoming CEO John Ternus (to be officially appointed on September 1), and Senior Vice President of Services Andy Jue—all three appeared together in Sun Valley.

Last August, Samsung's wafer foundry division secured Apple image sensor chip orders, and is now seeking a bigger breakthrough—re-entering the iPhone application processor (AP) supply chain.

This processor is currently exclusively manufactured by TSMC. According to Bloomberg, Apple executives held discussions with Samsung last month regarding main processor foundry production, bringing related possibilities to light.

Analysts point out that if Apple processor orders eventually materialize, Samsung will take part of the core capacity from TSMC, which would provide a substantial boost to its position in the wafer foundry market.

Amazon and OpenAI: More Potential Beyond HBM

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman both appeared in Sun Valley, each maintaining regular contact with Lee Jae-yong.

Currently, Amazon and OpenAI are existing customers for Samsung's high-bandwidth memory (HBM), as well as potential clients for the company's chip foundry business.

Both companies are actively developing their own AI chips to reduce their dependence on Nvidia.

With TSMC’s capacity remaining tight, Samsung—with its expanding 2nm advanced process—is seen as a production partner capable of taking overflow orders. The summit offers Samsung a chance to expand foundry business talks based on its HBM supply partnership.

Arm and General Motors: Strengthening Existing Allies

Arm CEO Rene Haas’s attendance provided an opportunity for Lee Jae-yong to meet this long-term partner.

Samsung Electronics has optimized advanced processes based on Arm’s design assets for over a decade, with a strong tech alliance. Haas participated in a three-way meeting last February at Samsung’s Seoul headquarters with Lee Jae-yong, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son, and Sam Altman, discussing AI strategic plans.

Additionally, General Motors Chair Mary Barra—whose company collaborates with Samsung SDI in automotive batteries—also attended the summit, providing a forum for further exchange on automotive business.

Google Chief Business Officer Philip Schindler, Meta Vice Chair Dina Powell McCormick, and others also appeared in Sun Valley, making Lee Jae-yong's business schedule even more packed.

Sun Valley: The Most Important Business Trip of the Year

Hosted by Allen & Company, the Sun Valley Summit is held every July, bringing together around 300 top leaders in technology, media, finance, and automotive for non-public discussions of strategic direction, earning the nickname "Billionaire Summer Camp."

This year's summit runs from July 7 to 10. Notably, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Elon Musk did not attend this year.

Lee Jae-yong has called Sun Valley Summit "the busiest business trip of the year," and this is his second consecutive attendance.

With Samsung’s wafer foundry business facing fierce competition from TSMC and the urgent need to expand its high-end client base, the commercial value of this summit for Samsung goes far beyond networking.

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