SK Hynix got the jump on Samsung in the high-bandwidth memory segment and even as Samsung tries to fight back with its HBM3E products, SK Hynix is going full steam ahead with its plans to further dominate this industry.
To that end, the company is going on a hiring spree for 48 new HBM-related positions that it intends to fill with talent from across the globe. This would have put Samsung on high alert as it wouldn't want to lose some of its best workers in the chip division to its local rival.
SK Hynix could poach top chip engineers from Samsung
SK Hynix is going on this hiring spree for the next-generation HBM4 chips. It's planning to outsource manufacturing to a foundry and now wants to hire new people to advance its HBM technology and oversee outsourcing operations. It particularly seeks chip engineers experienced in FinFET technology, one that Samsung has worked on for a long time.
Samsung's been making some moves in its HBM division as well recently. It has now consolidated many different HBM teams into one to further improvement technology development. It also added 300 engineers to the new team for developing HBM4 chips. Being a foundry as well, Samsung has the unique advantage of handling all HBM4-related processing in-house, from designing the logic die to packaging and mass production.
The timing of this SK Hynix hiring spree isn't good for Samsung. It's dealing with a historic first strike where employees, including those from the chip division, have walked out of work as they want higher wages. Many of them could look at this opportunity from SK Hynix and be enticed to apply, particularly if that that company ends up offering significantly more money.
