South Korean giant Samsung has been struggling to meet Nvidia’s requirements as rival SK hynix has become the US titan’s main supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for its AI graphics processing units (GPU).

The world’s largest memory-chip maker already acknowledged in October that it was facing a “crisis”, and admitted questions had arisen about its “fundamental technological competitiveness and the future of the company”.

“Samsung is facing a do-or-die survival issue. We need to reflect deeply from the top,” chairman Lee Jae-yong was quoted as saying during a training for top executives, Yonhap reported.

Lee’s message was to emphasise “what matters is not the crisis itself, but the attitude in dealing with it,” Yonhap reported, citing company sources.

Lee also said that “even if it means sacrificing short-term profits, we must invest for the future,” Yonhap added.

A Samsung spokesman told AFP today that Lee had not “said the message himself” without giving further details.

Samsung’s operating profit sank almost one third in the fourth quarter last year (Q4 2024), owing to spending on research.

Lee was cleared last month of a raft of charges linked to a controversial 2015 merger which prosecutors claimed was designed to seal his control of the South Korean tech giant.

During his last hearing, Lee said he was “well aware of the growing concerns about Samsung’s future.

“The reality we face is tougher than ever, but we are determined to overcome these challenges and take a step forward,” he said at the time, according to local media.