Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's Asia Tour Sparks 'Japan Passing' Fears

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has recently visited South Korea and Taiwan. Japan's exclusion from this tour has led to concerns over 'Japan Passing' among its local industry, reflecting anxiety about potentially being left out of the advanced semiconductor sector. Jensen Huang visited Taiwan late last month, meeting with IT giants such as TSMC and Foxconn, and pledging an annual investment of $150 billion. Following this, he visited South Korea on the 5th, completing a three-night, four-day itinerary that included meetings with leaders of major conglomerates like SK, LG, and Naver.

The Nikkei, Japan's leading business newspaper, reported that this situation indicates not only a weakening of Japan's competitiveness in the semiconductor industry but also the risk of it falling behind in the global AI revolution. Analyses suggest Huang is treating South Korea and Taiwan as 'key partners' for jointly shaping the future of AI, with both nations being deemed indispensable to Nvidia's ecosystem.

The Nikkei pointed out that despite Japan's strengths in materials and equipment sectors, it lacks Big Tech companies capable of directly competing with Nvidia for AI dominance. The newspaper questioned how many companies in Japan are attractive enough for Huang to personally visit, even with his tight schedule.

The Nikkei highlighted that Japan is being perceived as a mere 'consumer market' rather than a partner, a stark contrast to its role in the past smartphone revolution where Japanese component makers were integrated into the core ecosystem. The report concluded that Japan's ability to become a partner to leading companies like Nvidia amidst the new AI revolution will determine the nation's future economic prosperity.