[THE VIEW]Read the 'Signal of Strategy' in the Kanbu Meeting

The "Cold Calculations" Behind Jensen Huang's Stage Performance
NVIDIA's Negotiation Game and How Korean Companies Should Respond

The public meeting at Kanbu Chicken with Samsung and Hyundai during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit maximized the down-to-earth and approachable image of Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, winning the favor of the Korean public. Originally a graphics card company, NVIDIA secured the throne of general-purpose parallel computing and, riding the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, transformed its core product into the "AI-accelerated graphics processing unit (GPU, also known as AI chips)." The company succeeded in changing its entire profit structure. Its margin, which used to be in the 60% range, has now risen to the 75% range.

Huang, who drove this historic transformation, is known as the so-called "rock and roll CEO" and is a master of sales. He combines his black leather jacket, on-stage performances, and approachable storytelling to sway market sentiment and create negotiation leverage.

It should not be forgotten that above all else, he is a sales strategist highly sensitive to change and adept at calculation. Although he also met privately with SK, the public meeting with Samsung, a vendor, was a staged event. The message is clear: the key is to use the dependence on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) included in NVIDIA's products as a negotiation card.

The suppliers of HBM, the memory used in NVIDIA's core AI chips, are limited to SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron. So far, NVIDIA has secured an advantage in supply risk and price adjustments through qualification verification and competitive strategies among vendors. Currently, SK leads in supplying HBM in large quantities, meaning NVIDIA's demand is heavily tied to SK. On the other hand, Samsung is in an "aggressive pursuit" phase, with full-scale supply expected to begin in 2026.

The hidden meaning behind this "Kanbu meeting" is to keep SK, which is close to a monopoly supplier, in check, elevate Samsung, and induce mutual competition, thereby extracting more favorable price terms through that pressure.

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, is having a love shot during a chicken meeting with Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Group, and Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, at Kanbu Chicken near Samseong Station, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the evening of October 30, 2025. Photo by Jo Yongjun

The moment both vendors receive NVIDIA's qualification for products of the same generation, NVIDIA gains practical control over price and yield adjustments. Even the possibility of switching between the two vendors provides room for improvement in price negotiations, and as a result, the benefits of a stable yet competitive supply go to NVIDIA. Going forward, NVIDIA is expected to alternate and adjust HBM supply between SK and Samsung to manage prices.

So how should SK and Samsung respond? In the short term, they should maximize the benefits of NVIDIA's large-scale orders. As evidenced by rising stock prices, NVIDIA is clearly a helpful client for SK and Samsung at present. However, to avoid becoming dependent, they must defend against a monopoly by a single customer. At the same time, they should ensure stable HBM supply to NVIDIA's competitors such as AMD, thereby making alternative demand visible. Only then can they reduce dependence on NVIDIA and avoid losing leverage in future price negotiations.

In the longer term, they must rise from being mere suppliers to becoming true partners. By participating from the design stage and securing joint development rights, they can become genuine partners. Once this status is achieved, supplying to AMD and others in parallel will make it much easier to defend negotiation power and margins. To accomplish this, SK and Samsung must respond quickly and systematically within their organizations and prepare to adapt in parallel to changes.

Now, let us look again at the photo from the "Kanbu meeting." In short, NVIDIA's on-stage performance is not just something to applaud. Behind it operates clear vendor competition and price negotiation pressure, and for now, the winner of this game remains NVIDIA. It is hoped that Korea's leading companies read this strategic signal and respond with a more long-term and cool-headed approach.

Kyung Nakyoung, Professor of Computer Science, National University of Singapore