An event was held to provide a comprehensive overview of the rapidly changing trends and future strategies of the semiconductor industry in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

SEMICON KOREA 2026, the largest semiconductor exhibition in Korea, opened on the 11th at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul.

This event is being held on the largest scale ever, with 550 companies from around the world participating and setting up a total of over 2,400 booths. The number of pre-registered attendees has exceeded 75,000, and the organizers anticipate that the number of official visitors will reach more than 70,000. This means that more than half of the approximately 130,000 people working in the domestic semiconductor industry will visit the event venue.

At the opening press conference, SEMI Korea CEO Cha Ji-hyun emphasized, “Semicon Korea 2026 is the largest exhibition held at COEX in Seoul and the biggest event in the history of the Korean semiconductor industry,” adding that it is “an opportunity to see both the present and future of the semiconductor industry.”


The key keyword for this Semicon Korea is undoubtedly AI. It has been commonly suggested through various announcements that the semiconductor demand structure itself is fundamentally changing due to the spread of AI.

Lee Se-cheol, Executive Vice President at Citigroup, explained, “The semiconductor industry has entered the AI era after passing through PCs and mobile devices,” adding, “Unlike the past, AI requires a parallel computing structure, and accordingly, the combination of memory and logic semiconductors is becoming increasingly important.”

He analyzed that the demand for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) is increasing explosively, particularly due to the proliferation of AI servers, and that this trend is highly likely to lead to at least two memory supercycles.

In fact, a structure in which memory is placed right next to the processor is becoming common in AI servers, and as a result, memory usage and bandwidth requirements are increasing to levels incomparable to the past.

Executive Vice President Lee Se-cheol stated, “Although the cost burden of HBM is increasing as die sizes grow, its price premium is bound to be maintained as a high-value-added memory in the AI era.”

This event also clearly demonstrated that the center of gravity of semiconductor competition is expanding not only to the front-end process but also to the back-end process and the areas of materials and equipment.

Clark Cheng, Director at SEMI, stated, “In the era of AI semiconductors, the boundaries between front-end and back-end processes are blurring, and the importance of advanced packaging and hybrid bonding technologies is rapidly increasing.”

In fact, the conference that attracted the most attention at this Semicon Korea was the Advanced Packaging session, with major companies including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix participating as speakers.

This demonstrates that the key to improving semiconductor performance is shifting from simple miniaturization to packaging and integration technologies.

At this event, the changing status of the Korean semiconductor industry was also twoIt was revealed.

Korean companies accounted for approximately 60% of the participating firms, surpassing foreign companies (40%) for the first time. The speaker lineup also showed a 6:4 ratio between Korean and foreign participants.

In addition, global semiconductor companies such as Intel, Micron, Sony, and Kioxia are holding purchasing consultations with Korean materials, components, and equipment companies, with approximately 80 business matches expected to take place over the three days. This demonstrates that Korea is establishing itself as a key partner in the global semiconductor supply chain, moving beyond a mere production base.

SEMI has set the theme for this year's Semicon Korea as 'Transform Tomorrow.' This decision is based on the assessment that the semiconductor industry has entered a period of structural transformation centered on AI.

CEO Cha Ji-hyun said, “Semiconductors are now the foundational technology for all future industries,” adding, “Semicon Korea 2026 will be the first stage to show the direction of that change.”

Semicon Korea 2026 will be held for three days until the 13th, featuring an exhibition along with various programs including over 30 technical conferences and more than 200 speakers. Industry attention is focused on the event as it is expected to become a critical turning point for gauging the direction of the semiconductor industry in the AI era.