Hynix

A former SK Hynix employee is suspected to deliver stolen technology to Huawei

by

Although not monopolized attention to the same extent that TSMC, Intel or Samsung, the South Korean company SK Hynix is ​​done is One of the main designers and manufacturers of semiconductors of the planet. His specialty is The tuning of memory chipsand it is doing so well that LEADS THE HBM Chips Market so much (High Bandwidth Memory) like that of the DRAM memories. In fact, SK Hynix controls no less than 70% of the integrated HBM memory circuits market, so His leadership in this sector is overwhelming. In addition, it is the NVIDIA supplier if we stick to its GPU to artificial intelligence (AI) Thanks to the high competitiveness of your HBM chips. Samsung has an approximate share of 28%, and Micron touchs 18%. However, the success of SK Hynix is ​​based, as we can intuit, about its capacity for innovation. At the current situation, industrial espionage is the order of the day The Prosecutor of the Central District of Seoul (South Korea) has accused a former SK Hynix employee of illegally transferring technology to the Chinese company Huawei. This person’s identity has not yet transcended, but according to Digitimes Asia He is a name Kim, is South Korean and worked in the subsidiary in China of Sk Hynix until in 2022 he left this South Korean company to join Hysylicon, the Huawei subsidiary specialized in the design of semiconductors. Kim is South Korean and worked at SK Hynix until in 2022 this company left to join Hysilicon Presumably the Prosecutor’s Office is acting at the instances of SK Hynix. And it seems that this last company has discovered that during the negotiation of its hiring Kim gave Hysilicon Secret Information About advanced packaging technology used in the production of 3D NAND and HBM memories, as well as about multiple assembly Chiplets and of the CMOS image sensors. These technologies are protected by the property rights of SK Hynix, and in them largely resides the competitiveness of this company. According to the Kim prosecution he printed and took more than 11,000 photographs of internal SK Hynix files with the purpose of abandoning this last company and using this confidential material to get work in the competition in very advantageous conditions. In fact, according to the researchers of the Kim accusation he presented the material that extracted from SK Hynix at least two Chinese companies. One of them Hysilicon, He finally hired him. An important note: neither this last company nor its matrix, Huawei, asked him to give them commercial secrets, but, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, they accepted them as part of the hiring process. More information | Digitimes Asia In Xataka | China’s future in the chips industry is in the hands of a single company almost unknown: Sicarrier

Samsung crosses one of the most difficult stages in its history. His problem is that he is not able to keep up with TSMC and SK Hynix

by

Samsung is dealing with a complicated stage. These statements carried out just a few hours ago by Han Jong-Hee, general co-director of this South Korean company, diagnoses precisely What’s happening: “First of all I sin artificial intelligence (AI), which quickly evolves. “ This Mea guilt It is aimed at the company’s shareholders and expresses that the directive dome recognizes not having taken The appropriate decisions In recent years. “Our technological advantage has been compromised in all our businesses. It is difficult status quo Instead of generating disruptive changes, “says an internal statement written by Jay Y. Lee, the president of the company, according to Reuters. Loss of competitiveness is a big problem for Samsung Han Jong-Hee’s statements insinuate clearly that Samsung has not been able to get on the AI ​​train that currently leads the Taiwanese TSMC semiconductor manufacturer with hardly any opposition. This last company produces the integrated circuits for AI designed by NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom and other companies, which has led it to lead the global chip manufacturing industry with an approximate quota of 60%. TSMC’s economic performance is perceptibly better than Samsung’s The company led by CC Wei He announced In the middle of last January their economic results during 2024, and are extraordinary. In fact, their income beat a record by increasing 34% compared to those obtained in 2023. Only during December 2024 the 8,400 million dollars exceeded, a figure that represents an increase of 57.8% compared to the same month of the previous year. The engine of these figures are precisely the semiconductors for AI applications. TSMC’s economic performance, as we have just seen, is noticeably better than Samsung’s. However, this is not all. And is that The also South Korean Sk Hynix Threatens Samsung’s leadership in the memory chip market. In fact, it has already exceeded the benefits of this last company thanks to the excellent reception that its HBM memories are having (High Bandwidth Memory), which are designed to work side by side with the GPUs for ia. In this situation the hope of Samsung to return to the path of growth resides in 2 nm chips. And the first green sprouts They have already arrived. The Japanese chips designer for the preferred networks (PFN) and a South Korean company specialized in the design of neuronal processing units (NPU) have already formalized orders for their lithographic node of 2 nm. In fact, Digitimes Asia ensures that the massive production of integrated circuits of 2 nm It has already begun in South Korean plants of Samsung. Whatever one thing we can be safe: 2025 will be the year of the semiconductors of 2 nm. TSMC starts from a very comfortable position, but with all probability Intel and Samsung will also put all the meat on the grill. Image | Samsung More information | SCMP | Reuters In Xataka | South Korea fears US reprisals. To avoid their old lithography equipment, they take dust on a warehouse

Samsung has its biggest competitor at home. His future with chips depends on his rivalry with SK Hynix

by

South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix is ​​on a good streak. The memory market is dominated by the Samsung subsidiary specialized in the production of integrated circuits with an approximate share of 40%while SK Hynix defends a very worthy 29%. Behind both is the American Micron Technology, with 26% approximately. These are, precisely, the three companies that control the juicy HBM memory market (High Bandwidth Memory) that work hand in hand with GPUs to artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, SK Hynix is ​​NVIDIA’s main memory supplier. And having the company led by Jensen Huang as a client helps. It helps a lot. So much so that according to SCMPSK Hynix has surpassed Samsung in profits. And it has done so, precisely, thanks to its high-performance memories. However, it is not all good news. SK Hynix has predicted that sales of memory chips for consumer devices, such as smartphones or computers, will fall during 2025. “This year the memory chip market will be subject to great uncertainty because trade protectionism is growing and geopolitical risks are increasing. At the same time, PC and mobile phone companies are adjusting their inventories,” Kim Woo-hyun statedCFO of SK Hynix. This situation anticipates a complicated 2025 for both Samsung and SK Hynix, although the latter, as we have seen, has a very positive inertia in the HBM memory market. Together against China The rivalry between Samsung and SK Hynix in the memory market is a fact, but, in reality, the main threat to these South Korean companies comes from China. The memory integrated circuits industry has enormous growth potential precisely due to the high demand for these chips that has led to the proliferation of data centers for AI applications. And, as expected, Chinese semiconductor manufacturers do not want to be left out of it. The Chinese CXMT has deployed a very aggressive pricing policy to compete in the memory market Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is one of the Chinese companies specialized in the production of memory chips, and, like other companies in the country led by Xi Jinping, it has chosen to compete in this market so attractive unfolding a very aggressive pricing policy. Furthermore, CXMT in particular has increased its DRAM chip production capacity almost five times over the last four years, allowing it to increase its global market share to a very worthy 9%. This growth has placed this company just behind Micron if we stick to its market share, making it already the fourth largest memory chip manufacturer on the planet. To further complicate matters, the Chinese Government is financially supporting its manufacturers of this type of semiconductor in response to the sanctions deployed by the US and its allies, so the competitiveness of Chinese companies is on the rise. Image | Samsung More information | SCMP In Xataka | South Korea fears US retaliation. To avoid them, his old lithography equipment collects dust in a warehouse

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.