05/06/2026

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | JUNE 5, 2026

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Nvidia CEO mounts charm push in South Korea

Trade groups warn US govt of strain in

chip supply on AI boom WASHINGTON: A memory chip shortage driven by artificial intelligence demand is posing risks to sectors like consumer electronics and automobiles, trade groups warned on Wednesday, as they called on Donald Trump’s administration to help boost supplies. “Expanding artificial intelligence (AI) data centers consume an enormous share of available memory chip capacity,“ said the coalition of nine trade groups. This has caused a surge in chip prices and reduced supply for manufacturers. It could threaten higher consumer costs and supply chain disruptions, they added, in a letter addressed to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “While recent developments in AI offer the promise of generational technological advances and are important for US tech leadership, we must also ensure other key industries are not negatively impacted by this disruption in the marketplace,“ the coalition said. Those who signed the letter include the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, National Retail Federation and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association. They called on Trump’s government to support greater expansion of chipmaking capacity in the US, and to ensure that all segments of the market are served by memory chip capacity. The letter noted that effects are already showing, including cost hikes for electronics and risks to the availability of vehicles and medical devices. Federal contractors are also having a tough time meeting procurement obligations. Massive demand has sent profits skyrocketing for memory chip makers. As chipmakers prioritize the lucrative AI industry, they had been reducing output of less flashy chips that are used in everyday consumer electronics like phones and laptops, pushing up device prices. Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK hynix’s parent company, estimated that shortages could last until 2030 given that it takes several years to build factories. – AFP WASHINGTON: Prices in the US grew at a “moderate to strong pace”in recent weeks, largely driven by surging energy costs caused by the Iran war, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. “Districts noted that energy-related costs tied to the conflict in the Middle East were the primary driver of inflationary pressures, with spillovers into shipping, packaging, groceries, and fertiliser,“ the Fed said in its “beige book”survey of economic conditions in US. The Fed’s beige book presents a national summary of information gathered by each of the US central bank’s 12 districts through interviews with key business contacts, economists and other sources. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure rose in April by its highest year-on-year rate since 2023. Wednesday’s report cited business owners as suggesting prices had not risen at a commensurate pace with non-labour inputs, suggesting companies were suppressing profit margins in order to maintain revenues. Higher-income households continued to display resilient demand, in line with what economists have dubbed a “K-shaped economy,“ where harsher economic conditions see richer families maintain or increase spending while hitting vulnerable households harder. “Middle-income households were described as ‘squeezing more life out of every dollar before deciding to spend it,‘ and low-income consumers showed greater financial strain,“ the report said. There was an overall increased usage of credit cards, fewer retail visits and stronger demand for necessities, as per the report. – AFP Fed says Iran war driving inflation

o Huang’s second visit in seven months shows country’s strategic significance

SEOUL: When Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang makes his second visit to South Korea in just seven months this week, it won’t be only to meet top memory chip and robotics executives, but to throw the first pitch at a baseball game and appear on a TV talk show. While a celebrity in his own right, the charm push by the Taiwan-born 63-year-old highlights South Korea’s critical position in the AI landscape. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix between them make about 70% of the memory needed for AI chips like Nvidia’s. And the country’s strength in manufacturing and robotics sets it up to be a key player in physical AI, where AI is embedded in robots, cars and factories. “Nvidia’s dependence on South Korean suppliers is rising,” Jeff Kim, an analyst at Seoul-based KB Securities, wrote in a research note. Huang “needs a manufacturing site for physical AI”, Kim said. “South Korea is emerging as a perfect testbed.” Asia’s fourth-largest economy is also a major Nvidia customer, with the Silicon Valley-based firm announcing in October that it would supply more than 260,000 of its most advanced AI chips to the government and some of the country’s biggest businesses. Analysts and investors say South Korea’s importance has been magnified after trade frictions spoiled sales of the most-advanced semiconductors to China. “South Korean companies are running high-end factories, which need a lot of these kinds of chips,” said Seung-yub Lee, a fund manager at Seoul-based Quad Investment Management. President Lee Jae Myung has vowed to make AI investment a top policy priority, aiming to turn South Korea into one of the world’s top three AI powers amid a broader push to counter the economic impact of a shrinking population.

Huang leaves the SK hynix booth during the annual Computex in Taipei. – REUTERSPIC

Arms of chaebol Doosan develop robots and make materials used in Nvidia’s Blackwell chips. Park Ju-gun, head of corporate analysis firm Leaders Index, said Huang learned a lesson from his visit in October, when a meeting over chicken and beer with the chiefs of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor at a Kkanbu Chicken outlet generated a big media buzz. Huang was coy when asked by Reuters which South Korean executives he would meet this time, but food will again be a feature. According to local media, he may have a Korean barbecue dinner in Seoul’s trendy Sungsu area with executives from SK Group, Hyundai Motor and LG Group. Reuters has reported likely meetings with LG Group chairman Koo Kwang-mo and executives at South Korea’s top online platform, Naver. – Reuters

“Korea is a critical part of our ecosystem,” Huang told reporters at a dinner with South Korean tech executives on Monday in Taipei, the first day of the annual, industry-defining Computex trade show. He highlighted robotics when asked where Nvidia could invest, because “Korea is a manufacturing country, and Korea has a population limit”. “We have a lot to do together.” Huang’s plans clearly include courting the country’s 50 million-strong population. He will appear on one of South Korea’s most popular talk shows, You Quiz on the Block , which its production company, CJ ENM, likens to the Jimmy Fallon Show in the US. And he will don a Doosan Bears jersey to throw the first pitch at Sunday’s home game against the Kiwoom Heroes, with Doosan Group chairman Park Jeong-won acting as the ceremonial first batter.

SK hynix’s US listing plan wins strong investor backing SEOUL: SK Hynix told investors this week it received “tremendously positive” feedback on its proposed US listing as the chipmaker benefits from strong demand for advanced memory semiconductors needed to run AI data centres, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. demand and the company’s competitive position in the memory-chip market, the person said. The company, a major supplier to Nvidia, expects a United States listing to broaden its investor base, as some America-based institutional investors invest in US-listed stocks only due to internal mandates, the person said. It also told investors the company could not provide specific updates on the listing process as a review by the US Securities and Exchange Commission remains underway. and SK hynix have benefited from surging chip prices. SK hynix, the source said, told investors it expects a favourable pricing environment for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to continue into next year, as discussions with customers are underway on future pricing of the advanced chips used in AI chipsets.

The South Korean memory-chipmaker made a confidential filing to list shares in the US this year, which a source said in March could raise as much as US$14 billion. The fundraising follows a blistering 250% surge in its share price this year on an AI-driven rally. Its market value topped US$1 trillion last week, making it the third company in Asia to hit the milestone after Taiwan’s TSMC and Samsung Electronics. SK hynix told some investors this week that it had “tremendously positive” feedback from stockholders to its US listing plan given AI

It also said strong demand for LPDDR memory, a type of low-power chip normally found in phones and tablets, from Nvidia for the US firm’s next-generation Vera Rubin AI platform could tighten supply across the broader memory market from 2027, according to the source. To counter this, SK hynix said it plans to adjust investments and product mix to maximise output, the source said. But SK hynix also told investors it would be difficult for it to say with certainty that it can fully satisfy all demand, with demand expected to far exceed supply, the source said. – Reuters

“SK hynix plans to issue ADRs within 2026, but the details, including the size and timing, have not yet been decided,“ the company said in a statement in response to a Reuters request. The increasing need for memory chips to power AI data centers has caused a severe supply shortage, impacting industries such as smartphones and computers, while top producers of memory chips such as Samsung