First On-Site Management of the New Year... Inspection of AI Memory Fields Including HBM
"Let's Not Focus Only on Specific Product Groups but Understand the Macro Situation"
Chairman Chey Tae-won visited the SK Hynix Icheon Campus R&D Center as his first on-site management activity of the new year to directly address semiconductor issues.
According to SK Group, on the 4th, Chairman Chey Tae-won checked the growth drivers in the AI memory sector, including High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and reviewed this year’s management direction together with key executives such as Kwak No-jung, President and CEO of SK Hynix, at the Icheon Campus, SK Hynix’s headquarters.
Chairman Chey reviewed the management system with the attendees and discussed ways to strengthen internal capabilities. He urged a response to the changed management environment, saying, “Learning from the unprecedented recent market situation in history, we must plan management strategies and find business methods that match the changes in cycle speed, where the gaps deepen and the cycles shorten.”
He also emphasized the importance of macro-environment analysis. He said, “We need to create and examine cycle and business forecasting models from various perspectives,” adding, “We should not focus only on specific product groups but understand the macro situation, and the market should now be viewed not as a world market but from the perspective of segmented markets.”
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is listening to an explanation about HBM wafers and packages from the management team at the SK Hynix Icheon Campus R&D Center on the 4th. (From left) Chairman Chey, Kwak No-jung, President and CEO of SK Hynix, and Choi Woo-jin, Head of P&T at SK Hynix. Photo by SK Group
Regarding the AI semiconductor strategy, Chairman Chey stressed a total solution approach for global market stakeholders, stating, “We need to understand and consider investments and competitive situations from the customer perspective, such as big tech’s data center demand.”
SK Hynix has been focusing its capabilities to maintain an advantage in the future AI infrastructure market by establishing a dedicated ‘AI Infrastructure’ organization and newly organizing an ‘HBM Business’ unit under it in the recent organizational restructuring.
In September last year, when he had many external activities, Chairman Chey visited the ‘Yongin Semiconductor Cluster’ under construction in Wonsam-myeon, Yongin City, to check the construction status and encourage the members. The Yongin Cluster is currently undergoing full-scale site development, and SK Hynix plans to start construction of the first fab there in March 2025 and complete it by May 2027, aiming to grow it into a key base leading the AI era.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is reviewing semiconductor issues with executives at the SK Hynix Icheon Campus R&D Center on the 4th. Photo by SK Group
At the end of last year, Chairman Chey also visited SK Hynix’s North American subsidiary and Gauss Labs located in Silicon Valley, USA, to review semiconductor issues.
In his New Year’s message, Chairman Chey said, “I regretted not having many opportunities to hear voices from the field directly due to long-term external activities,” and added, “This year, let us check and refine the management system with the attitude of ‘Haehyeon-gyeongjang’ (management by visiting the field).”
With his visit to the Icheon Campus marking his first on-site step this year, Chairman Chey Tae-won plans to visit ‘CES 2024,’ the world’s largest home appliance and IT exhibition held next week in Las Vegas, USA, to observe global market AI trends.
At ‘CES 2024,’ SK Hynix will showcase ultra-high-performance memory products, which are core to AI infrastructure, demonstrating related technological capabilities.
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