Intel has hired former SK hynix CEO (president) Lee Seok-hee as executive vice president of the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) institutional sector. Lee, who also served as SK On CEO (president), is regarded as a veteran in Korea's semiconductor and manufacturing industries. In April, Intel also hired former Samsung Electronics vice president Han Seung-hoon (Shawn Han), who oversaw Samsung Electronics' foundry sales.
Intel's announcement of Lee's recruitment came as the U.S. government emphasizes strengthening domestic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 18th (local time) on his social media (SNS) Truth Social that Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the United States. Following Tesla and Nvidia, Apple is also moving to collaborate with Intel. The U.S. government is the largest shareholder, holding 10% equity in Intel. In line with the Trump administration's "backing Intel" stance, the company appears to be reinforcing its foundry capabilities by bringing in key Korean semiconductor talent.
Intel said in a press release that it has appointed Lee as executive vice president of Intel Foundry. Lee will report directly to Intel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lip-Bu Tan and lead advanced packaging, system integration, back-end process technology development, and back-end manufacturing.
Lee served as CEO and president of SK hynix from 2018 to 2022. He then led the battery business as president of SK On. He also has experience in an engineering leadership role at Intel. Intel said Lee is an expert in advanced process technology and large-scale manufacturing.
With this personnel move, Intel said it will establish advanced packaging as a business pillar with dedicated leadership. Packaging is the process of bundling multiple semiconductors into one to improve performance and power efficiency. For artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, logic, memory, and network chips must be connected at high performance, increasing the importance of advanced packaging.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said, "Advanced packaging and system integration are becoming the capabilities that define next-generation computing systems," and added, "Lee is a leader with the experience and execution to run complex, large-scale technology and manufacturing organizations." Tan said Lee will strengthen Intel's system integration capabilities that combine a variety of components, including logic, memory, and networking.
Lee said, "As demand for system-level integration accelerates across AI and high-performance computing, Intel is uniquely positioned to lead in advanced packaging," and added, "I will help advance Intel's technology leadership, manufacturing capabilities, and customer commitments."
Earlier, in April, Intel hired former Samsung Electronics vice president Han Seung-hoon as executive vice president and general manager of the foundry services institutional sector. Han spent 30 years in semiconductors at Samsung Electronics and most recently led Samsung Electronics' foundry sales.
In the industry, Intel's back-to-back recruitment of veteran figures from Korea's semiconductor sector is seen as a move to strengthen its foundry capabilities. The company appears to have bolstered personnel to simultaneously ramp up foundry customer acquisition and its competitiveness in advanced packaging.
With Lee's appointment, Intel said Nagas Chandrasekaran, executive vice president of Intel Foundry, will focus on front-end process technology development and front-end manufacturing. Chandrasekaran will lead the ramp of Intel 18A, Intel 14A, and subsequent nodes into volume production, while continuing to oversee design enablement and customer engagement functions.
Announcing Lee's recruitment, Intel also mentioned preparations for mass production of its advanced packaging technologies, Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge-T (EMIB-T) and Hybrid Bonding Interface (HBI). EMIB-T is Intel's packaging technology that connects multiple chips at high speed, and HBI is a technology that connects chip to chip more densely to increase bandwidth and power efficiency.
Since declaring a return to the foundry business in 2021, Intel has pursued a strategy of offering advanced process technology and packaging together. As the U.S. government stresses restoring semiconductor manufacturing capacity and Big Tech's collaboration with Intel gains prominence, the competitive landscape of the advanced foundry market, long led by Taiwan's TSMC and Samsung Electronics, could change.
For Samsung Electronics, Intel's recruitment of Korean semiconductor talent and its push to win U.S. Big Tech customers could be a burden. Following its Austin plant in Texas, Samsung Electronics is preparing volume production of leading-edge nodes at its Taylor plant as well. The more likely customers seeking to expand semiconductor manufacturing in the United States are to choose Intel, the fiercer the order competition between Samsung Electronics Foundry and Intel is expected to become.