Samsung Electronics Co is replacing the head of its semiconductor arm, appointing a longtime memorychip veteran to spearhead efforts to catch up with SK Hynix Inc in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) arena.
Samsung named Jun Young-hyun the new leader of its most important business line. He replaces Kyung Kye-hyun, who is to head up Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology and the future business team.
Jun, 63, joined the division in 2000 and helped the company develop its basic DRAM and flash memory chips for smartphones and servers.
Photo: Bloomberg
The appointment comes after Kyung offered to step down from his post, a person familiar with the matter said.
Samsung has fallen behind SK Hynix in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which have seen explosive growth because they are used for training AI models such as ChatGPT.
“It’s unusual for Samsung to do this management change in the middle of the year,” CLSA Securities Korea Ltd analyst Sanjeev Rana said. “This highlights Samsung’s desperate attempt to inject new energy and fresh thinking into its semiconductor business, where its lead has been slipping away.”
In addition, Jun’s appointment comes at an age when most Samsung executives retire, Rana said.
“His expertise was deemed necessary to help Samsung navigate the current challenging situation,” he said.
SK Hynix is the biggest supplier of memory used to develop ChatGPT-like services around the world. Its production capacity for such chips is almost fully booked through next year.
The firm plans to spend about US$14.6 billion building a new complex in South Korea to meet demand for HBM chips, which work alongside Nvidia Corp accelerators in creating and hosting AI platforms. It is also building a US$4 billion packaging facility in Indiana — its first in the US.
Samsung, which also makes logic chips and operates a foundry business, has also embarked on a global expansion that encompasses a US$40 billion investment in US chipmaking.
In the foundry business, Samsung has struggled to win big customers and narrow Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) overwhelming lead in producing advanced chips.
Samsung has begun mass production of its latest HBM product, eight-layer HBM3E, and says it plans to mass produce 12-layer HBM chips in the second quarter of this year.
The company expects its supply of HBM to increase by at least three times this year compared with last year.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS