Samsung appoints Jun Young-hyun as new head of semiconductor business

South Korean chipmaker announces leadership reshuffle to regain market edge

Jun Young-hyun was appointed as the Head of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business, also known as the Device Solutions (DS) Division on May 21, 2024. / Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics announced on May 21 that it has appointed Jun Young-hyun as the head of the company’s semiconductor business to bolster the chipmaker’s competitiveness in the market.

Kyung Kye-hyun, who previously led the Device Solutions (DS) Division, will become the Head of the Future Business Division.

“This appointment is a preemptive measure to strengthen the competitiveness of the semiconductor business amid an uncertain global business environment,” the chipmaker said in a statement.

“The new Vice Chairman, Jun Young-hyun, is expected to navigate the semiconductor crisis based on his extensive experience in the semiconductor business, as he has been a key player in elevating Samsung Electronics’ memory semiconductor and battery businesses to world-leading positions,” Samsung Electronics added.

Vice Chairman Jun is a semiconductor expert who joined Samsung Electronics in 2000 and worked his way up by leading the development of DRAM and NAND flash memories in the chip division. He served as Head of the Memory Business in 2014 and CEO of Samsung SDI in 2017 before heading the Future Business Division in 2024.

President Kyung, who has led the DS Division, will lead the Future Business Division and the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT). “Based on his experience leading the semiconductor business, he will focus on finding new growth opportunities,” said a Samsung Electronics official.

The latest leadership reshuffle comes as Samsung’s semiconductor business reported its worst performance in 15 years last year. The company has been criticized for losing ground to rivals in areas such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a crucial component in artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Samsung Electronics is the world’s biggest memory chipmaker, a position the company solidified under the leadership of late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. But Samsung’s chip division posted a loss of nearly 15 trillion won last year amid an industry downturn. While a slow recovery in chip demand following the global recession was partly to blame, the company faced criticism for falling behind in next-generation chip technologies such as HBM.

HBM is a type of memory chip that enhances data processing speeds by vertically stacking multiple DRAMs. This unique architecture supports faster communication between the processors that drive generative AI systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While HBM is several times more costly than regular DRAM, its profitability is much higher, substantially impacting the company’s operating profits.

DRAM has long been Samsung’s largest source of profit, and the chipmaker has enjoyed high profits by building a near monopoly. However, industry insiders are concerned that Samsung is closely followed by SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker. “Samsung’s failure to anticipate market shifts and customer specifications for DRAM has resulted in significant setbacks,” said an industry insider.

SK Hynix has been exclusively supplying HBM to Nvidia, which currently dominates nearly 90% of the AI chip market. Samsung, on the other hand, has struggled to attract key customers. While SK Hynix began mass-producing fifth-generation HBM3E for Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs), Samsung reportedly has not yet completed sampling.

At a shareholder meeting earlier this year, President Kyung acknowledged that “competitors outpaced Samsung in HBM.” He emphasized the need to “regain our competitiveness by improving our internal processes.” Samsung has since established a dedicated HBM organization and outlined a roadmap for next-generation HBMs, including HBM3E 12-speed and HBM4.