SK Hynix Strengthening Foundry... Park Jung-ho Says "Need to Invest More"

Park Jung-ho, President of SK Telecom (center front row), is listening to an explanation about AI-specialized semiconductors with Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT (right), at the SK Telecom booth at the World IT Show held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 21st.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] SK Hynix is expected to strengthen its semiconductor foundry (contract manufacturing) business. This comes as Park Jung-ho, SK Telecom CEO who also serves as SK Hynix Vice Chairman, mentioned investments in the related sector.

On the 21st, at the 'World IT Show' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Park said, "We probably need to invest more in foundry." He added, "If we provide foundry services at the level of Taiwan's TSMC, many domestic venture fabless (semiconductor design companies) say they can develop 'technology or services.' I agree with this."

Currently, SK Hynix's main business is memory semiconductors such as DRAM and NAND flash. Among the company's sales of 31.9 trillion KRW last year, DRAM accounted for 22.5 trillion KRW (70.6%), and NAND flash for 7.5 trillion KRW (23.4%), making the memory semiconductor business about 94% of total sales.

At present, through its foundry business subsidiary SK Hynix System IC, the company produces display driver ICs (DDI) and power semiconductor products based on 8-inch wafers. As of last year, this subsidiary recorded sales of 703 billion KRW and an operating profit of 117.9 billion KRW.

Following the corporate split decision of its parent company SK Telecom, SK Hynix has come under an investment-specialized company, gaining investment capacity. Based on Park's foundry investment remarks, the semiconductor industry is focusing on the possibility that SK Hynix will expand SK Hynix System IC or engage in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of other foundry companies. Previously, SK Hynix participated as an investor in acquiring MagnaChip Semiconductor's foundry business division together with the National Credit Union Federation of Korea last year.