Lee Jae-yong to Personally Oversee Semiconductors... Visits DS Giheung and Hwaseong Sites

Improved Performance in Semiconductor Division, Boosting Employee Morale
Operating Profit Expected to Exceed 23 Trillion Won in Second Half
Positive Outlook for Supplying HBM4 to Nvidia

Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, is visiting the business sites of the Device Solutions (DS) division, which is responsible for the company’s semiconductor operations. As recent evaluations indicate improvements in both memory performance and the technological competitiveness of system semiconductors (foundry and system LSI), this move is seen as Chairman Lee taking a hands-on approach to management on site.

According to industry sources on the 22nd, Chairman Lee is expected to visit various memory business sites, including ‘NRD-K,’ the next-generation research and development (R&D) complex of the DS division located at the Giheung Campus in Gyeonggi Province, as well as other key sites such as the Hwaseong plant.

This visit to domestic business sites comes about a week after Chairman Lee returned from a business trip to the United States on December 15.

This visit is interpreted as an effort by Chairman Lee to boost the morale of semiconductor business employees, whose performance has improved significantly in the second half of this year.

In October 2023, Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, visited the Giheung Campus to inspect the construction site of the semiconductor research and development (R&D) complex. Samsung Electronics.

Since the third quarter of this year, Samsung Electronics has signaled a business recovery by increasing shipments of high-bandwidth memory (HBM). In addition, the global expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investments has driven up the price of standard DRAM, resulting in high operating profits.

According to the securities industry, the operating profit of Samsung Electronics’ memory business division is expected to surge from approximately 635 billion won in the first half of the year to more than 23 trillion won in the second half. For the full year, the company is projected to record an operating profit approaching 30 trillion won.

Samsung Electronics has also recently received high praise from Nvidia for its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, ‘HBM4,’ and expectations are rising that the company will supply HBM4 to Nvidia next year.

HBM4 is scheduled to be installed in Nvidia’s AI accelerator ‘Vera Rubin,’ which is set to launch next year.

Earlier, in June of this year, Chairman Lee visited the Songdo Campus of Samsung Biologics in Incheon to inspect the construction status of the fifth plant. Last year, Samsung Biologics posted strong results, with consolidated sales exceeding 4 trillion won.