Lee Seok-hee, President of SK Hynix, "Memory Demand Will Remain Steady Until Next Year"

The US Department of Commerce's Request for Information Disclosure: "We Need to Review Internally"

Lee Seok-hee, President of SK Hynix

[Asia Economy Reporters Heungsun Kim, Gimin Lee] Lee Seok-hee, CEO of SK Hynix, predicted that demand for memory semiconductors will remain steady until next year.

On the 28th, at the launch ceremony of the 'Semiconductor Solidarity and Cooperation Council' held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Lee forecasted in response to reporters' questions about the memory market outlook for the second half of the year, "With the expansion of 5G, the release of new CPUs (Central Processing Units), and the growth of enterprise SSDs (Solid State Drives), demand will continue to increase until next year." He added, "As the difficulty rises, EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) equipment will also be used, and supply may be somewhat limited."

Regarding Kip Foundry, which has been mentioned as a possible acquisition target to strengthen the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) business, he was reserved, saying, "We are looking at various options, but nothing has been decided."

On the recent demand by the U.S. Department of Commerce for global semiconductor companies to disclose sensitive information such as sales scale and the top three customers by product, he said, "I understand that all global semiconductor companies are subject to this, but since it was only recently published in the official gazette, we need to review it internally." When asked if there is a possibility of refusing to disclose information, he replied, "It says 'voluntary,' but we need to review it."

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security announced on the 24th through the official gazette that it will conduct a survey targeting companies across the semiconductor supply chain, requesting data on sales over the past three years, monthly sales volume of products with high order volumes, the top three customers by product, and the expected sales proportion for each customer.

Although it was stated that the provision of information by companies would be voluntary, it was also indicated that the Defense Production Act (DPA) could be invoked, effectively making the disclosure mandatory.

Meanwhile, the council launched that day consists of 30 members, including representatives from device companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, material, parts, and equipment (MPE) companies, fabless (semiconductor design), foundry, packaging companies, as well as representatives from academia and research institutes in the semiconductor field. This is the highest-level discussion body for industry-academia-research collaboration aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry ecosystem.

The council is expected to support the K-Semiconductor policy announced by the government in May and to empower public-private cooperation to strengthen Korea's semiconductor leadership amid global competition.