Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, center, poses with ZEISS Group CEO Karl Lamprecht, left, and ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology CEO Andreas Pecher, at the latter's headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany, Friday (local time). Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics has bolstered its strategic partnership with ZEISS Group in the area of chip production technologies, in a move to achieve better yields and improve its performance in next-generation memory chips, the electronics giant said Sunday.

ZEISS obtains thousands of core patents for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technologies used for state-of-the-art chip production. The company is the exclusive supplier of optical systems for ASML's EUV lithography equipment. More than 30,000 ZEISS components are used for one piece of EUV equipment. EUV is considered the most important tool when it comes to manufacturing semiconductors.

Under the partnership, Samsung aims to maximize the production efficiency of its memory chips, thereby improving its yields and leveling up the overall competitiveness of its chip business, the company said.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong took a business trip to the headquarters of ZEISS in Germany to solidify their technological ties in chip production.

Lee met with top executives from ZEISS – such as ZEISS Group CEO Karl Lamprecht and ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology CEO Andreas Pecher – and exchanged their ideas on the latest chip technologies and their roadmap for a mid-to longer-term partnership. The Samsung chief also took a look at the production process of ZEISS equipment by visiting a factory of the German firm there.

ZEISS Group is also set to expand its presence in the Korean market with an investment plan to build its research and development center here. The investment, valued at 48 billion won (approximately $34.8 million), is set to continue through 2026 and is anticipated to strengthen their bilateral alliance, according to Samsung.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, second from left, poses with ZEISS Group CEO Karl Lamprecht, third from left, after looking around the latest in semiconductor manufacturing equipment at the latter's headquarters in the German city of Oberkochen, Friday (local time). Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Powered by the EUV tech partnership, Samsung Electronics is set to mass-produce its sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM no later than the end of this year.

"Lee will also hold various business meetings with local clients by visiting not just Germany, but France and Italy, during the business trip," an official from Samsung Electronics said. "The move is aimed at finding the firm's next growth engines, while at the same time, tightening its footing in the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market."

Starting last year, Lee has met with a number of overseas tech moguls, such as Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, ASML CEO Peter Wennink and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Samsung Electronics is seeking to expand its presence in not just memory, but non-memory chip areas — such as the image sensors and neural processing units (NPU) — in a bid to reduce its heavy reliance on the memory chip business.