Kwak Noh-jung, CEO and president of SK hynix, told employees on the 23rd, "Let's not get drunk on our performance; let's keep a sense of crisis."
At the "Together THE Communication Event" held that day at the SK hynix Icheon campus, Kwak quoted the phrase "Stay hungry. stay foolish" from Apple founder the late Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement address at Stanford University in the United States as he spoke to employees.
Kwak is seen as having made the remarks to maintain internal tension as SK hynix logged record earnings last year on the back of strong sales of standard DRAM and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). SK hynix posted record results last year with revenue of 971.46 billion won and operating profit of 472.63 billion won.
Kwak said, "Last year's record results were the product of our efforts aligning with the strength of artificial intelligence (AI)," adding, "(This year) let's keep a sense of crisis while focusing on fundamental competitiveness, and have pride but not arrogance."
In the industry, there is a view that demand for memory semiconductors such as DRAM and NAND flash will surge as AI spreads, sharply improving memory makers' profitability this year. There is also a forecast that SK hynix's operating profit could top $100 billion this year.
However, competition is expected to intensify as rival Samsung Electronics moves in earnest to enter Nvidia's supply chain. Kwak said, "Although debate over an AI bubble continues, the market is still growing," adding, "But the bar for us is rising, and competition is deepening, so we need to keep a sense of crisis."
He added, "We need to maximize revenue through technological competitiveness, strengthened DRAM and NAND technology leadership, securing AI memory initiative, and the effects of Operation Improvement (OI)."
Meanwhile, SK hynix holds a communication event each quarter where the chief executive officer (CEO) personally listens to employees and explains various management issues. Taking the stage at the event were Kwak; Song Hyun-jong, president of the Corporate Center; Ahn Hyun, president and head of development; Cha Seon-yong, president and head of the Future Technology Research Institute; and Lee Byung-gi, executive vice president and head of mass production.