Samsung Electronics Announces Leadership Change in Semiconductor Business

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics, which has remained heavily reliant on memory production despite years of diversification efforts, has this week appointed Jun Young Hyun as the head of their semiconductor business. Hyun has been involved in the development of different generations of DRAM and NAND since 2000, and has led the company’s battery production business.

Executive Reshuffle Amid Competitor’s Success

In this role, Hyun succeeds Kyung Kye-hyun, who will now lead the Advanced Institute of Technology research division and oversee prospective business directions. These changes are believed to have occurred after the world’s largest memory producer fell behind competitor SK hynix in the development and production of HBM, a critical component in AI systems.

This year, SK hynix experienced its most rapid revenue growth since 2010, with its stocks appreciating by an impressive 36% since the beginning of the year. The company has primarily benefited from becoming the largest supplier of HBM chips for computational accelerators and has plans for massive multi-billion-dollar investments to expand its HBM production, both in South Korea and the United States.

Samsung’s Response

Meanwhile, Samsung is projecting a threefold increase in HBM deliveries this year and is set to commence mass production of 12-layered HBM3E stacks in the current quarter. The stock market responded tepidly to the change in leadership in Samsung’s specialized division; the company’s shares dipped less than 1% following the announcement.