[Chip Talk] Lee Byung-chul's Final Battle, 64K DRAM Developed After 9 Years 'Start of Ultra-Gap'

History of D-RAM, the Hero of Korea's Semiconductor Miracle

Memory Semiconductor D-RAM
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Ranked 1st and 2nd Globally

In 1987, Chairman Lee Kun-hee at Age 45
Surpassed Competitors with Decision on 'Stacked Structure'

In 2012, SK Group Overcame Winner's Curse Concerns
Successfully Acquired Hynix

Samsung Electronics to Invest 20 Trillion Won by 2028
Including Dedicated Research and Development Lines

The late Lee Byung-chul, former chairman of Samsung Group (Photo by Hoam Foundation)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok]

Four months after the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, it is being called the "de facto semiconductor government." At the end of last September, the industry-academia-research 'Semiconductor Alliance and Cooperation Council' was also launched. It includes representatives from device companies (Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix), materials/components/equipment companies (Dongjin Semichem, Wonik IPS, Kiko Ceramics), fabless companies (Silicon Mitus), foundries (DB HiTek), packaging companies (Nepes), university professors, and the director of the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, covering both large and small-medium enterprises.

The reason the Korean industry has earned the "qualification" to stake its fate on the success of semiconductors is that it has achieved the world's top position in memory semiconductors. Samsung Electronics' remarkable achievement of mass-producing the world's first 3nm foundry product on June 30 and shipping the world's first 3nm foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) product applying next-generation transistor Gate-All-Around (GAA) technology on July 25 would have been impossible without its world No. 1 position in memory.

Before challenging the "hegemony competition" in next-generation product groups such as system semiconductors including foundries, one must understand the current state of Korean semiconductors, starting with memory semiconductors. Among them, the protagonist is "DRAM," where Korean companies dominate the world’s first and second places. According to market research firm TrendForce, in the second quarter, the global DRAM market share was Samsung Electronics (43.5%) and SK Hynix (27.4%). According to IC Insights’ forecast for this year’s global memory semiconductor sales share, DRAM is expected to account for the largest portion at 57%.

1983, The First Year of 64K DRAM

The late Lee Byung-chul, the founding chairman of Samsung Group, wrote in his autobiography "Hoam Autobiography" that Samsung’s semiconductor business was his last battle in life. This is understandable because when Samsung first succeeded in developing the 64K DRAM in 1983, it was a significant achievement nine years after starting the business, and it was judged that if they lost competitiveness in this globally booming product, the semiconductor business would effectively be over. It is generally evaluated that from this time, Korean memory semiconductors took their first step into the global market.

The construction period for semiconductor factories was reduced from the then-standard 2-3 years to 6 months, and the technological gap with leaders like the US and Japan was reduced from 10 years to 4 years. At that time, Samsung Electronics had started its DRAM business 27 years later than the US.

1987, The Successful Bet on the 'Stack' Method

A crisis came in 1987. The competition to develop 4-megabit DRAM was underway, and instead of the then-mainstream "trench" method, which involved etching circuits downward, Samsung decided on the "stack" method, which involved stacking layers. There were divided opinions among the developers, and the stack method was new. Then-Chairman Lee Kun-hee stepped in and decided, "Wouldn't stacking upward be easier?" and surpassed competing companies. 1987 was the first year that 45-year-old Lee Kun-hee took on the role of captain of Samsung Group.

Afterward, Samsung Electronics succeeded in developing the world's first 64-megabit DRAM semiconductor in 1992 and maintained the No. 1 global market share in DRAM for 20 years.

1983, 2012 The Birth of Another Strong Player 'SK Hynix'

It is difficult to discuss Korean semiconductors without mentioning only Samsung Electronics. The general industry consensus is that if SK Hynix, a technological and managerial competitor, had not existed, it might have been regarded as "Samsung’s sole myth," and the ecosystem and global market position of Korean semiconductors would have been significantly different.

When looking at SK Hynix, it is easy to think of it as the acquisition of Hynix by SK through the well-established Hyundai Group. However, after 42 companies in the creditor group declined, Hyosung Group expressed interest in acquisition, but the deal fell through amid controversy over preferential treatment as a company related to the president’s in-laws. In February 2012, SK did not miss the opportunity and, despite strong opposition within SK Group and concerns about the "winner’s curse," acquired the semiconductor company through Chairman Chey’s determination.

Even though SK Hynix’s investment amount increased from 3.5 trillion won in 2011 before acquisition to 9.9 trillion won in 2020, it focused on completing production plants in Icheon and Cheongju.

The Future of Korean Memory

Since 2005, Samsung Electronics’ factory has operated a system large-scale integration (LSI) dedicated 300mm (12-inch) wafer line (S1 line). Since then, it has entered the semiconductor foundry business. In 2006, it supplied 90nm products to customers. Samsung Electronics’ display driver IC (DDI) was No. 1 in the world in 2002. Navigation application processors (AP) became No. 1 in 2006, and smart card integrated circuits (IC) became No. 1 in 2007.

The point is that it has always been at the world’s top but has undergone business restructuring. Samsung Electronics’ Giheung and Hwaseong campuses, the world’s largest single complex semiconductor site, cover 2.98 million square meters (about 900,000 pyeong). Vice Chairman Lee also broke ground for the next-generation semiconductor research and development complex at the Giheung campus. Samsung Electronics is constructing a semiconductor R&D complex at Giheung campus covering 100,000 square meters (about 33,000 pyeong). It is scheduled to start operations in mid-2025. Including a dedicated semiconductor R&D line, it will invest 20 trillion won in the research complex by 2028.

Going forward, the two companies plan to compete with high-quality memory semiconductor product lines. Samsung Electronics plans to compete with memory products featuring a super-gap such as Double Data Rate (DDR) 5.