SK Hynix's unrivaled technological competitiveness led to record high bandwidth memory (HBM) sales growth, which helped the company turn profitable in the fourth quarter of 2023, signaling a rebound in the industry.
The strong HBM performance was driven by SK Hynix's HBM Sales & Marketing Vice President Kim Ki-Tae, who has been focused on staying ahead of market changes, responding to customer demand, and driving profitability.
With a wealth of field experience, Vice President. Kim has worked in account management for global big tech companies, helping to increase revenue and strengthen customer partnerships.
He has been at the forefront of the company's sales despite the unstable market conditions. In 2018, he led the company to a golden era of record operating profit, and in 2022, he played a leading role in the Downton task force to overcome the recession.
"With the diversification and sophistication of generative AI services, the demand for HBM as an AI memory solution has exploded. With its high-performance and high-capacity characteristics, HBM is a monumental product that has overturned the conventional wisdom that memory semiconductors are only a part of the overall system," said Vice President Kim. "In particular, SK Hynix HBM's competitiveness is outstanding, and it is sought after by global big tech companies due to its high technology."
Kim emphasized that HBM's sales competitiveness is also based on technology. In order to respond to the surge in demand for AI memory in a timely manner, it is important to secure the specifications required by customers first.
At the same time, he said, detecting market changes and preparing in advance has also been effective.
"In terms of sales and marketing, we have been preparing to respond to the AI era," said Vice President Kim. "We established collaborative relationships with customers in advance and predicted the market formation, which allowed us to proceed with product development and build the foundation for mass production of HBM before anyone else, and quickly capture the market."
This year, SK hynix aims to defend its HBM No. 1 title and build on its strong HBM market leadership. To this end, the company has created the HBM Business organization, which brings together all departments from product design, device research, product development, and mass production, including the HBM Sales & Marketing organization, led by Vice President Kim.
While there are still some external instability factors, Kim believes that the memory semiconductor industry has begun an upturn this year. Demand for products from global big-tech customers is recovering, and as AI is being utilized more widely in on-devices such as PCs and smartphones with their own AI, demand for not only HBM3E but also DDR5 and LPDDR5T is expected to grow.
"In order to gain a sustainable market advantage, technological competitiveness is fundamental, and shortening TTM (Time To Market) from a sales perspective is key," said Kim.
"The fundamentals of semiconductor sales are to proactively secure customer volumes and negotiate better terms for a good product. We have a good product, now it's a matter of speed," said Vice President Kim. "This year, HBM is already 'sold out'. 2024 has just started, but we are already preparing for 2025 to be first in the market."
Kim admits that while he is proud to be the number one sales and marketing person at HBM, he also feels a great sense of responsibility. His organization is comprised of HBM Sales, which pursues win-win relationships with customers; HBM Marketing, which pathfinds optimal frontiers through market and industry analysis; and HBM Planning & Intelligence, which aims to maximize sales and profitability in line with HBM's market-leading strategy.
This unified organization demonstrates the company's commitment to becoming a total AI memory provider that is at the forefront of market changes while providing customized solutions to customers, Kim said.
