In 2018, Samsung declined a potential long-term collaboration offer from NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, a decision that could arguably be considered one of the company's costliest missteps, resulting in billions of dollars in losses. The proposed agreement encompassed joint efforts in the development of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), foundry collaboration, and the co-creation of the CUDA ecosystem. Despite the allure of this partnership, Samsung turned it down, leading NVIDIA to forge an alliance with SK Hynix instead.
Consequently, SK Hynix has swiftly ascended to prominence in the HBM market, witnessing a remarkable surge in its stock price by over 220% within five years. In stark contrast, Samsung's HBM business has incurred operational losses, highlighting the potential ramifications of missed opportunities in the dynamic semiconductor industry.