Intel CEO "Visiting Korea at Year-End... Aiming for 2nd Place in Foundry"

June Korea Visit Canceled: "No One to Meet in Korea"
"Foundry Orders Worth $15 Billion" Confidence

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, explained the reason behind the cancellation of his visit to Korea by saying, "The person I want to meet is not in Korea."

Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

CEO Gelsinger made this statement during a press conference held after delivering the keynote speech at 'Computex 2024' at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, Taiwan, on the 4th. Earlier, it was reported that after completing his schedule at Computex in Taiwan this month, CEO Gelsinger would visit Korea to attend the 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit' hosted by Intel Korea in Seoul on the 5th. However, the visit was suddenly canceled at the end of last month. The keynote speech presenter originally scheduled to be CEO Gelsinger was also changed to Justin Hotard, Senior Vice President of Intel’s Data Center and AI Group.

Following the sudden schedule change, speculation arose within the domestic industry that it might be related to the recent replacement of the head of Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions (DS) division. On the 21st, Samsung Electronics replaced the head of the DS division, which oversees semiconductor business, from President Kyung Kye-hyun to Vice Chairman Jeong Young-hyun. Although not explicitly stated, the person CEO Gelsinger referred to is presumed to be either President Kyung, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, or Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon.

CEO Gelsinger emphasized, "Although I will not stop by Korea on this trip, I will visit Korea by the end of this year," adding, "Korea is very important to Intel in many ways, and we have very important relationships with many tech companies and clients in Korea."

Regarding the increasingly intense foundry competition, he stated, "In the next 10 years, we will rank second in the overall foundry market and first in the system foundry market," emphasizing, "The foundry orders we have received from external sources amount to $15 billion (approximately 20.655 trillion KRW). We will continue to advance our production processes."