The new head of Samsung Electronics Co’s semiconductor division urged employees to work their way past challenges in the business, making his first remarks to staff after the surprise departure of his predecessor last week.
Jun Young-hyun — a memory chip veteran who is returning to the company after leading Samsung SDI Co — unexpectedly replaced Kyung Kye-hyun as the new leader of its most important business line on Tuesday last week.
“I am confident that we can overcome the recent difficulties as quickly as possible if we continue to build on the strengths we have accumulated so far and continue the culture of communication and discussion that is unique to semiconductors,” Jun said on an internal site seen by Bloomberg News.
Photo: Jung Yeon-je, AFP
Jun would be facing a series of challenges. Its semiconductor division lost about 15 trillion won (US$10.9 billion) last year. The company has fallen behind rival SK Hynix Inc in high-bandwidth memory chips, which have seen explosive growth, as they are used for training artificial intelligence (AI) models like ChatGPT. The firm is also facing the first-ever strike in its 55-year history.
“Especially now, in the age of AI, we are facing a future that we have never experienced before,” he said. “This poses a great challenge to us, but if we respond with the right direction, it can be a new opportunity for the semiconductor business, which is essential in the AI era.”
Investors have become increasingly concerned about Samsung’s response to SK Hynix, which reported its fastest pace of revenue growth since 2010. That has propelled about 40 percent rally in SK Hynix shares since the start of this year, compared with a slump of about 5 percent for Samsung’s.
In other news, India would have to attract a wider range of semiconductor suppliers to succeed in building a robust domestic chip industry, trade group SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha said.
“They need to really increase the emphasis on the ecosystem because, without an ecosystem, growth will be limited,” Manocha said on the sidelines of the India-Taiwan Semiconductor Forum in Taipei on Thursday. “They need to encourage smaller and medium-sized companies to come and set up shop in India.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a US$10 billion fund to help attract global chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
Manocha said that if Modi wins a third term, the country is very likely to expand the program beyond US$10 billion to help create a comprehensive ecosystem.
However, no major semiconductor firms have committed to significant investments in India so far, partly due to challenges with infrastructure, including a stable power supply.
The two most high-profile projects are a US$11 billion site by the Tata Group in partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) to make mature chips, and a US$2.75 billion assembly and testing facility by Micron Technology Inc.
India is on the right track, Manocha said, adding that the Tata and Micron projects can act as catalysts for the country’s plans to build a technology foundation in the country.
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
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