Kwak Noh-jung, president and CEO of SK hynix, said in a New Year's address on the 2nd that "2025 was a meaningful year in which we achieved clear qualitative and quantitative growth by delivering the best performance ever."
Kwak said this was the result of employees and management focusing their capabilities with a one-team spirit, reinforced by consistent group-level support, and expressed gratitude to all employees, shareholders and stakeholders.
Kwak said, "Now is the time to build on last year's results and take on new challenges," adding, "AI demand, which exceeded expectations, is no longer an upside surprise but a constant, and the intensity of competition is also increasing." He stressed, "As we have risen to a market-leading position in key areas, the roles and responsibilities required of us have grown beyond comparison with the past."
He set "a top-tier corporation" as the company's medium- to long-term aim. Kwak said, "We must go beyond simply being No. 1 to become a true partner that puts customer satisfaction first and a corporation that contributes to the sustained development of society." To that end, he said it is necessary to maintain technology leadership based on SKMS and a profitability-focused management stance, while making sufficient investments and efforts to secure future competitiveness.
On organizational culture, he emphasized the Supex spirit, humility and the importance of collaboration. Kwak said, "While maximizing the motivation that comes from leading the industry, we must pair it with bold challenges, constant checks and a culture of collaboration," adding, "It is important to complete the one-team spirit through rigorous technological and strategic discussions."
As an execution strategy to respond to changes in the AI environment, he cited "speed" as the key word. He said, "Speed matters above all to secure differentiated market competitiveness," adding, "We must develop leading-edge technologies and next-generation products a step ahead, and push the introduction of AI technologies with speed to continuously strengthen competitiveness across O/I."
He added, "To leap forward as a true 'Full Stack AI Memory Creator,' we must not remain within existing frameworks but present and implement, in creative ways, the value that customers need most."
Kwak said, "Based on these efforts, let's establish ourselves as the most trusted partner by presenting differentiated products and a clear future vision to customers, and together make 2026 a year when we take another step forward as a top-tier corporation."