[Chairman Lee Kun-hee Passes Away] "We Must Escape Being a Technology Colony" The Secret to Samsung Semiconductor's No.1 Position

Chairman Lee Kun-hee visiting the semiconductor facility in 2004 (Photo by Samsung)

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] With the passing of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee on the 25th, attention has also grown on his contributions to making Samsung Semiconductor the world's number one.

Samsung entered the semiconductor industry in 1974 by acquiring Korea Semiconductor. At that time, Chairman Lee, who was a director at a Samsung affiliate, heard that Korea Semiconductor was on the brink of bankruptcy and used his personal assets to acquire the company.

When Samsung announced it was starting in semiconductors, no one expected Samsung to reach its current position. It is known that everyone opposed when Chairman Lee said he would acquire Korea Semiconductor, which was on the verge of bankruptcy.

A Japanese corporate research institute even released a report titled "Five Reasons Why Samsung Cannot Do Semiconductors," criticizing the move. However, Chairman Lee Kun-hee had a different perspective.

Chairman Lee said, "How long must we remain a technological vassal? It is time to break free from technological colonialism, and Samsung must take the lead. I will add my personal fortune," and pushed forward with the semiconductor business.

His determination began to bear fruit in July 1986 when Samsung started producing 1-megabit DRAM. Samsung Electronics then secured technological leadership by developing the world's first 64-megabit DRAM in 1992, increasing production volume, and achieving the world's number one market share, becoming the undisputed leader in both technology and production.

Since then, Samsung Electronics has maintained its solid number one position in the memory semiconductor market by developing the world's first 256-megabit DRAM in 1994, the world's first 1-gigabit DRAM in 1996, the world's first 4-gigabit DRAM in 2001, the world's first 30nm 2-gigabit DDR3 DRAM in 2010, and the world's first 10nm 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM in 2019.