[Report] Samchunix and Micron compete for ‘memory module’ at China Import Fair

The 9th China International Import Expo exhibition hall at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China, on the 5th (local time).

With China's pursuit of 'self-reliance' in the memory semiconductor industry fierce, the booths of three global memory companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK (including SK Hynix), and Micron, were set up side by side.

Through this event in which foreign companies participate, China is trying to build an image as a 'defender of free trade' and allay countries' concerns about a large trade surplus by touting its large domestic market.

At this event, which was held amid intensifying technology competition between the U.S. and China and the U.S.'s restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors to China, there were no new product announcements from the three companies, and 'SOCAMM2', a server memory module for AI data centers created through collaboration between NVIDIA and memory companies, attracted attention.

There are predictions in the industry that SoCam 2 will become one of the two main pillars of AI memory along with high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and will grow into a multi-billion dollar market within a few years.

In its product description, Micron emphasized that "Micron products consume less power and have excellent performance (compared to other companies)," and described the Micron 9650 solid-state drive (SSD) as "the industry's first PCIe 6th generation (6G) SSD (announced last year)."

Samsung Electronics said, “SoCam 2 is a standardized technology, so optimization is more important,” and added, “Samsung plans to release SoCam with high performance and various capacities based on its competitiveness in server memory and stable mass production experience of mobile DRAM.”

He then emphasized, "Like the example of NVIDIA VeraRubin, our strength is that we can supply high-bandwidth memory (HBM), Socam 2, and server SSD all in one AI platform, and that we are a total solution provider encompassing memory, foundry, and packaging."

China is recording a record-breaking goods trade surplus this year amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but semiconductor imports are also rapidly increasing.

China's integrated circuit exports in September increased 136% from the same period last year to $44.9512 billion (approximately KRW 60.1 trillion), and imports increased 74.7% to $71.7162 billion (approximately KRW 95.9 trillion).

China's exports to Korea in September were $20.621 billion (approximately KRW 27.5 trillion), up 68.2% from the same period last year, and imports from Korea reached $34.6367 billion (approximately KRW 46.3 trillion), up 94.3% from the same period last year. A significant portion of the imports are related to semiconductors.

Other global semiconductor companies such as Intel and Qualcomm also set up booths at this event.

Qualcomm introduced a prototype of a 6th generation (6G) terminal for the first time, and it is known that the prototype is already being used to test 6G technology by Chinese mobile carriers and other companies. Last month, we agreed to a multi-year patent cross-licensing agreement with China's Huawei.

Meanwhile, despite foreign car brands struggling amid sluggish domestic demand in China, the transition to electric vehicles, and the advancement of Chinese companies, many automakers, including Hyundai Motor Company and Toyota, also participated in the expo.

Hyundai Motor Company, which set up a booth for the 9th consecutive time, displayed the electric vehicle model IONIQ V, the IONIQ concept car, and a hydrogen truck. Despite the sluggish Chinese market, Toyota set up a large-scale exhibition hall under the slogan 'With China' and emphasized its will to localize.

About 210 Korean companies participated in this event, including Samyang Foods, famous for its ‘Fire Chicken Noodles’.

About 80 companies, about twice as many as the same period last year, participated in the Korea Pavilion created by the Korea International Trade Association to showcase consumer goods such as cosmetics, food, and household goods, and the Small and Medium Venture Business Corporation, Global Innovation Center (KIC China), and Songhan Science and Technology Innovation Center also prepared exhibition space.