Computex 2026 opens Tuesday, June 2
Nvidia's GTC runs alongside as a side event
'Korea Partner Night' to be held in Taipei
Jensen Huang and Chey Tae-won to meet for first time in three months
Nvidia announces push into CPU market beyond GPUs
Anticipation is building across the global IT and semiconductor industry as Asia's largest technology trade show, Computex, prepares to open in Taiwan — the heart of the world's semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.
Excitement is running particularly high over a planned meeting between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, on the sidelines of Nvidia's GTC Taipei event, which runs concurrently with Computex. Encounters between Korean corporate executives and their global partners throughout the week have drawn intense attention.
Korean companies have seen their profile rise sharply even in Taiwan — itself the epicenter of the AI revolution and a hub of advanced semiconductor production. That reflects a broader assessment that the center of gravity in the global AI ecosystem is shifting toward South Korea, which boasts strong competitiveness in memory chips and AI infrastructure.
Against that backdrop, Nvidia is expected to unveil plans at the event to enter the PC semiconductor market, drawing further scrutiny.
Under the theme "AI Together," Computex 2026 runs June 2–5 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. The event is organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council and the Taipei Computer Association.
About 1,500 companies from more than 30 countries will set up over 6,000 booths, making it the largest edition in the show's history.
Computex began in 1981 as a trade show for components made by Taiwan's computer manufacturing and assembly companies.
In recent years, explosive AI growth has elevated Taiwan's standing in global supply chains. Semiconductor and IT companies from around the world have converged on the show to present AI technologies and solutions, transforming it into a major global exhibition.
Taiwan is the birthplace of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and the home of TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker.
This year, Nvidia's annual AI conference, GTC Taipei, runs as a side event alongside Computex.
Huang will be joined in Taipei by a roster of global tech heavyweights, including Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Marvell CEO Matt Murphy, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Arm CEO Rene Haas.
Among the week's most closely watched moments is the "Korea Partner Night" hosted by Huang himself.
The dinner, held Monday evening at a restaurant in Taipei's Da'an District, brings together Huang and senior executives from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, Naver Cloud and Doosan, among others. Discussions are expected to span AI infrastructure, autonomous driving and physical AI — covering the full breadth of industries that have partnered with Nvidia — as the two sides look to deepen ties.
"South Korea is a key partner nation in the global AI infrastructure and accelerated computing ecosystem, spanning hardware, software and the entire supply chain," an Nvidia official said.
The fact that Huang is holding a public event with Korean companies in Taiwan — a place he has called the epicenter of the AI revolution — signals a significant rise in the standing of Korean firms on the global stage.
South Korea had long been narrowly regarded as a "chip maker" or "chip factory" that simply produced memory chips to order. Now it is positioning itself as a core partner driving cooperation across the global AI ecosystem and supply chain.
At Computex itself, attention is by far most concentrated on the Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix booths. Samsung, which recently became the first company to ship 12-layer HBM4E (seventh-generation high-bandwidth memory) samples to global customers, is expected to unveil next-generation memory chip technology and emphasize its drive to lead the AI memory market.
Adding to the anticipation, Song Jae-hyuk — Samsung's chief technology officer for its semiconductor division and concurrently chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association — is set to personally host a briefing on next-generation memory chip technology. The session is expected to impress upon global customers and partners the competitiveness of South Korea's semiconductor industry.
The meeting between Huang and Chey is another focal point. Chey is expected to attend Huang's opening keynote and strengthen what has been described as a trilateral alliance that also includes TSMC. Chey has met Huang three times in the past seven months, including at Nvidia GTC 2026 in San Jose in March. A visit by Huang to both companies' booths — as he did at the San Jose GTC — is also anticipated.
South Korea's two major display makers will also showcase advanced display technology at Computex. Samsung Display will make the public debut of an ultra-slim OLED panel for laptops, among other products. LG Display will hold a private roadshow for key customers, presenting its next-generation display technologies and products.
Nvidia is setting its sights squarely on the PC market. The company is expected to unveil at the event the first Windows PC to use an Nvidia chip as its primary processor.
Nvidia has until now focused exclusively on GPUs. The announcement would mark its formal entry into the CPU market.
Intel and AMD have dominated the CPU market for roughly 40 years. With this move, Nvidia looks to accelerate its push to control a comprehensive AI computing ecosystem spanning GPUs, software, CPUs and PC chips.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to benefit from Nvidia's CPU market entry. CPUs incorporate memory modules such as LPCAMM — low-power compressed attached memory modules that package several LPDDR low-power DRAM chips — broadening the range of memory products with which the two Korean chipmakers can partner with Nvidia, beyond the HBM that has been central to GPUs.
A foundry order for Samsung is another anticipated development. MediaTek, a Taiwanese fabless chipmaker, also participated in designing the new processor. Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong recently visited MediaTek's headquarters in Taiwan with senior executives and held a private meeting with CEO Rick Tsai and other top management.
Nvidia is set to reveal the Windows PC — built around its own chip as the primary processor — at both Computex in Taiwan and Microsoft's developer conference Build in San Francisco on Tuesday.
go@heraldcorp.com
