The recent head of Samsung Electronics’ chip division urged employees to work together to regain the company’s status as a leading semiconductor maker, adding that he was committed to overcoming challenges in the era of artificial intelligence.
The South Korean tech giant has lagged behind rivals SK Hynix and Micron Technology in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are in high demand in AI processors.
Citing a “chip crisis,” the company this month replaced its semiconductor chief with Youthful Hyun Jun, who led Samsung’s memory chip division from 2014 to 2017 after working on developing DRAM and flash memory chips.
“[AI era] is a great challenge for us, but if we choose the right direction and respond, it may become a recent, unprecedented opportunity,” said the 63-year-old June in a letter to employees obtained by Reuters.
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Samsung’s latest HBM chips have not yet passed Nvidia’s testing for exploit in the U.S. company’s AI processors due to heat and power consumption issues, said three people briefed on the issues. In response, Samsung said that “claims of failures due to heat and power consumption are untrue” and that testing “ran smoothly and as planned.”
His weakness in HBM was noticed by investors. While SK Hynix and Micron shares are up about 80% over the past year, Samsung’s shares are up just 6%.
Thursday’s letter also noted that Samsung’s semiconductor business last year posted its biggest loss since the company’s founding, that its foundry was unable to close the gap to the leading company, and that LSI’s systems business was also struggling.
Samsung’s union also threatened to stage the company’s first strike next week, calling for greater pay transparency and additional annual leave.
