A couple of weeks ago, Samsung appointed a new head of its semiconductor chip business. Jun Young-hyun, who is now heading the South Korean firm's most important business arm, has called for unity among employees to stay on top of the competition.
Jun Young-hyun, Samsung Device Solutions' new chief, calls for unity between employees and management
To retain Samsung's leadership in the memory chip segment, Jun Young-hyun has requested unity between management and employees. Over the past few years, Samsung has faced tough competition from rivals Micron and SK Hynix, and SK Hynix has surpassed Samsung in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market.
Samsung wants to become the world's biggest HBM supplier. HBM chips are in huge demand due to the explosive growth in the AI chip market.
Jun Young-hyun posted on the company's internal bulletin board as an inauguration message saying, “Samsung’s semiconductor business has 50 years of history and has maintained the No. 1 position in memory. We have secured unrivaled technological assets by overcoming numerous crises and challenges. I’m confident that we can overcome current challenges by leveraging the accumulated strength and fostering a culture of communication and dialogue unique to the semiconductor industry.”
The biggest employees' union (consisting of 22% or 28,000 workers) in Samsung Electronics has decided to stage a walkout next week due to unmet demands over higher wages. This would be the first walkout in Samsung's history and is seen as a huge challenge.
Without mentioning the upcoming strike, Jun Young-hyun acknowledged the tireless efforts of employees. He emphasized that he and the management team feel a heavy responsibility over the challenging situation.
Who is Jun Young-hyun?
The current chief of Samsung's semiconductor chip business has extensive experience in the segment. He headed the design team in 2006 and the DRAM development team in 2009. He was then appointed the president of the Device Solutions (DS) business arm in 2014 for three years. Industry experts see his re-entry into the DS segment as a positive move.
The story continues after our video that compares the performance of the Exynos 2400 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 For Galaxy.
Samsung struggling with HBM chips for AI accelerators
Nvidia, the world's biggest AI chip provider, has been exclusively using SK Hynix's HBM chips. A few weeks ago, Nvidia's CEO signed Samsung's HBM3E chips, but some reports claimed that Samsung has been facing difficulties in passing Nvidia's tests due to heat and efficiency issues. However, Samsung said it is optimizing its chips, and there are no issues with its HBM chips.
However, the company has been supplying HBM chips to AMD for its AI accelerators without any known issues. So, Samsung may be able to surpass the challenges it faces with HBM3 and HBM3E chips for Nvidia's AI chips.
Image Credits: Samsung
