The market's attention seems to be on this issue. Is it possible that Hynix's performance will surpass Samsung's? Could we really see a change in rankings? Until now, Samsung has consistently been in first place, but its performance hasn't improved, while Hynix, in second place, has been showing continuous growth. We are now at a point where the moment of changing the first place might be approaching, and the market is focused on this situation. Regardless, it seems that the operating profit will be around this level; if it doesn't reach that, it indicates a serious problem. Fundamentally, this is a major challenge. Samsung Electronics is still the world's number one in the DRAM sector. However, the global price of DRAM has fallen. In the past, they could make a profit by selling just one unit, but now they need to sell two or three units to achieve the same profit margin, so naturally, the operating profit will decrease. This is one factor.

The second reason is that, due to various circumstances, Samsung Electronics missed the opportunity to enter the HBM market when it was first developed and is now in a position of chasing after latecomers. As a result, it has been difficult to narrow the gap. Currently, while NVIDIA is supplying some products, they have not yet broken through the barrier of high-spec HBM. In fact, high-spec HBM seems to be almost exclusively supplied by NVIDIA. If Samsung can overcome NVIDIA, it would lead to a breakthrough and potentially good news. However, they have not been able to produce such results in this third quarter. This is another painful story for Samsung Electronics. Due to these two aspects, it seems that this quarter's performance will not be very good. Even if the outlook isn't positive, it may still fall short of expectations. The current general estimate is around 10.3 trillion won, but whether they can meet that benchmark is uncertain.

Now, another point of interest that will reveal market reactions is the foundry. The world's number one foundry is Taiwan's TSMC. Basically, foundries are needed by other companies. For example, if I am making a mobile phone and need a semiconductor with specific functions, the foundry creates that for me. However, the problem is that Samsung Electronics makes its own mobile phones and various home appliances. Therefore, other foundry clients may hesitate to place orders with Samsung, as they are competitors in finished products. On the other hand, TSMC does not manufacture finished products; they only produce semiconductors. This makes it easier for companies that manufacture finished products to place orders with TSMC. Thus, there have been discussions suggesting that if Samsung wants to grow its foundry business, it should consider spinning it off completely.

We are a different company. We only handle the orders we receive, and they have nothing to do with the complete products from Samsung, so don't worry about that. This was also a method that was discussed. Chairman Lee Jae-yong mentioned that he would expand the foundry and would not do anything unnecessary. Up to this point, Lee Jae-yong, who is in the semiconductor industry, accompanied the President of the Philippines. They visited a Samsung factory located in the Philippines, but it wasn't the Samsung Electronics factory; it was the Samsung Electro-Mechanics factory. If you're not familiar with the relevant people, you might not recognize the name MLCC, which stands for Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor. What this means is that it temporarily holds electricity. For example, when we turn on the tap for water, it flows out steadily and reliably.

However, in most cases, there is a water tank on the roof of the house. After all, there are always water pipes. But if you draw directly from the water pipe, it may not be stable depending on the circumstances at that moment. So, there was a device that could store the water in between and supply it stably. This device can provide a stable electric signal to the semiconductor. Interestingly, there are usually about 1,000 of these devices in a phone, which is quite a lot more than expected. In mobile phones, there are about 1,000, but when it comes to electric vehicles, the number completely changes to 18,000 or even 20,000. Up until now, in the era when mobile phones were considered the most advanced electronic products, the production process for these devices was sufficient with a supply of around 1,000. Now, the era of electric vehicles is opening up.

Now, we have created a thousand units, and we need to produce tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. This marks the beginning of an era. This is often referred to as the rice of the electronics industry. Lee Jae-yong mentioned that the electronics industry's rice must be seized, not just by Samsung Electronics but also by Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and he discussed the future of Samsung. MLCC will likely appear frequently in articles, so I wanted to share this with you. 

Considering the overall semiconductor industry, there are very alarming signals. I have always mentioned that if we have Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) in steel, we have Korea Zinc in non-ferrous metals. However, when it comes to non-ferrous metals, there is a different feeling regarding the metal. Nonetheless, among the products made by Korea Zinc...

Sulfuric acid is known to be a very strong acid. If it comes into contact with the skin, it can cause serious damage. It is definitely not something to use on the skin. So, how is it used? In semiconductor manufacturing, sulfuric acid plays a crucial role in several processes, not just one. 

When you look at a semiconductor, you see a shiny, round disc, known as a wafer. To achieve that shiny surface, it needs to be very clean. Cleaning it to make it shiny is one of the functions of sulfuric acid. Whether it’s creating a substrate or precisely etching materials, sulfuric acid is essential in various semiconductor processes. 

However, if the core technology team of Korea Zinc acquires MBK, which is invested by Chinese capital, it could have significant implications.

We are going to quit the company. We cannot see our technology going to China. If that happens, then it could be a problem because there might not be enough sulfuric acid to manufacture semiconductors. Oh no, this is not good. We have reached a situation where such circumstances have arisen. Anyway, the semiconductor industry is currently both a crisis and an opportunity. It is a situation that could potentially be very serious, as external shock factors are approaching. It might be interesting to keep that in mind as well. Samsung Semiconductors... Samsung Semiconductors has other problems. The first report card for Samsung Semiconductors in the third quarter is 9.9 trillion won. Originally, the market expectation was around 13 trillion won, so it is about 15% lower than expected. They thought they would score 100 points, but they only received 85 points. It is a situation where they should have scored higher, but why?

The fundamental cause of this situation, according to Maeil Economic Daily, can be attributed to three main factors. One of these is High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). It's actually more challenging to explain this in Korean. For those who know about it, HBM is simply easier to refer to, but for those who don’t, it remains confusing. This is quite difficult. I’ve explained HBM several times to those who are joining us today, so I wonder if it’s necessary to explain it again. However, I will take the opportunity to explain it briefly at some point, although that is not the core focus today. As you know, the original idea behind HBM is something I must discuss. Essentially, we are familiar with semiconductor chips, right? When we think of a semiconductor chip, it originally consists of a single chip. As it becomes more integrated, it is spread out on a wafer.

When you spread it out, it widens. So, if there is a house, it becomes a village where several houses live together. At this stage, what is HBM? The population has increased too much, and more people need to live here. So, they built it as an apartment. Now, there are buildings up to 12 stories high that are currently being produced. However, the idea didn't come from Samsung or Hynix; the concept itself required a certain stage of apartment development, which was necessary for the semiconductor industry. The company that needed this was actually AI semiconductor, specifically NVIDIA. So, NVIDIA thought, If we do it this way, the processing speed will be fast, and it seems feasible. Let's give it a try. Both Samsung and Hynix accepted this idea. At that time, Samsung was in chaos with Chairman Lee Jae-yong in prison, and they couldn't handle it properly.

However, regarding Hynix, they managed to take the lead, which is why Hynix is now out in front, while Samsung is only just catching up. It's like the story of the tortoise and Achilles; if the tortoise starts first, Achilles can never catch up. This makes sense in a way, but there are also situations that don't make sense. In a race, the starting runner cannot be overtaken easily. Moreover, it's not just a race between the tortoise and Achilles, but among equally strong competitors. In this context, who starts first is extremely important. It's not just about starting first; it's like someone running an entire lap ahead of the others. How difficult would it be for the following runner to catch up that entire lap? Right now, Samsung is struggling to catch up that lap.

In this quarter, I was expecting a decisive breakthrough. Finally, NVIDIA has decided to receive Samsung's HBM. This announcement had to come out, and both investors and Samsung were eagerly waiting for it. However, it didn't come out as expected. I saw that it was a four-layer model; they only accepted an older version, while they didn't accept the latest model. This is where Samsung has made a crucial mistake. 

Another point is that the flow of semiconductor demand is experiencing a significant shift toward AI, and at this crucial moment of change, the top decision-maker, Chairman Lee Jae-yong, has been going back and forth to prison. The chairman's situation is precarious, and in this state, they missed the timing again. Meanwhile, there is always something innovative happening.

Creating something new tends to invigorate an organization, but if we continue to do the same thing day after day without introducing new initiatives, people fall into a rut. Ultimately, the entire Samsung organization has fallen into a routine, leading to the emergence of terms like Samsung civil servants, which is a play on the word civil servant. This has become a situation where Samsung has reached this point, as analyzed by the Maeil Business Newspaper, citing three main reasons. Other companies are picking apart Samsung's weaknesses one by one. In advanced fields, Samsung is falling behind Taiwan's TSMC and Hynix, while in areas where anyone can produce, it finds itself being chased by cheap Chinese products. Moreover, with the influx of these inexpensive Chinese goods, price dumping is occurring, which naturally leads to falling prices. As a result, profitability has decreased, and this has affected the current operating performance.

The profits fell short of market expectations. In fact, HBM is in a difficult position. However, the semiconductor price range has worsened this time, leading to a decline in profit margins and operating profit. Ultimately, this was a decisive reason for falling short of expectations. There has been much talk about a crisis at Samsung, but this time, it has been revealed in numbers, which is the issue with this earnings report. In the end, there is no strategy to suppress competitors. The timing for new challenges in HBM was missed. A giant can do many things, but the more they become a giant, the less they take on new challenges. They tend to rely on proven methods and then acquire smaller companies that seem to be doing well. This is a common strategy for giants. When they do this, the smaller company becomes part of the larger organization.

As they enter, they tend to lose the motivation of certainty, creating a negative cycle. Currently, Samsung seems to be following this cycle. In contrast, SK made a timely judgment that HBM would succeed, which has turned out to be a very good case. This situation cannot be viewed solely from Samsung's perspective; it should also be considered on a national level, which is the viewpoint of the Chosun Ilbo. 

In the past, there was a trend of avoiding engineering majors. Previously, the top students from across the country would go to Seoul National University’s engineering school, but now, after filling all the medical school spots in Jeju, the focus has shifted to going to Seoul National University’s engineering school. Is this beneficial for the country? People seem only concerned about their own well-being. Those who are solely focused on their own success are becoming doctors. Just look at the behavior of doctors these days and the actions of medical students.

Starting from the deep-seated issues in engineering, Samsung has reached this point, and simultaneously, the medical school crisis is unfolding. Additionally, the quality of education is deteriorating. Meanwhile, Chinese students are advancing rapidly, while we are falling behind. This situation has accumulated over the past 20 years, and ultimately, these accumulated issues have impacted Samsung. If this is the case, it’s not just Samsung's problem. If we discuss this uniformly, then Hynix could also be affected. Therefore, we need to consider this issue from the perspective of fundamental industries. However, Samsung cannot evade responsibility due to these problems. We must recognize these issues and prepare countermeasures. There are still companies doing well, so we cannot say that we are not at fault because of this situation.

The country itself is heading down a path of ruin. This has truly become a situation where the nation is on the brink of collapse. Those who are settling here are pondering how to eliminate and prevent this phenomenon, which indicates that the roles of each party are somewhat different. Anyway, this is an editorial from the Chosun Ilbo. There are many points in the middle, and while I have shared some of my thoughts, there are also things I haven't mentioned. However, the real question is, where has the Samsung Electronics we once knew gone? This is ultimately what I want to discuss this morning. Samsung, which once said to change everything except for the wife, was a symbol of innovation—a once-icon of change and a representative of talent management. Where is that Samsung going? In response to the question, Samsung's competitors, including Taiwan's TSMC, saw their third-quarter sales surge by 39% compared to last year. Sales are doing well, and of course, Samsung Electronics is also...

Compared to last year, Das has increased by 27%. Anyway, it has grown significantly compared to last year. However, I keep mentioning that if the market expects a score of 100 but only receives a score of 90, that's a problem. This time, it's not even a 90 score; it’s more like an 85. There will be a lot of criticism for that. At one point, Samsung Electronics, which is the representative stock of the South Korean stock market, was buoyed by the 50,000 and 60,000 marks, and there were even talks of it being a good opportunity for low-priced buying. However, since it has dropped significantly, there is now a movement to start buying again. Anyway, Samsung Electronics, which has been strategizing as a low-priced buying stock, realized that this situation cannot continue. Therefore, Samsung has taken drastic measures, stating that it will completely change its organization, people, and culture. However, as they say, it’s not that easy. There were reports from Samsung that when executives were asked to take action, they were encouraged to work hard.

There has been a culture of discussing others' matters as if they were someone else's stories. In reality, this is not just a story about Samsung; it reflects the situation in South Korea. There are so many instances of this in our country. When I look at my friends, many of them work hard at Samsung Electronics in executive roles, yet they often receive sarcastic remarks like, You should work hard too. When someone brings up these topics, everyone resonates with it and shares similar experiences. For instance, the concept of work-life balance—my father's generation viewed work as everything, and the company was everything. My father was like a machine that brought in money, only coming home to sleep. This was the issue. But now, people seem to use the term work-life balance merely to treat the company as just a place to make money.

There are times when I think that the mindset of treating the company's work as one's own is quite lacking. However, here, we usually talk about reducing the number of executives. When we reduce executives, it has the effect of cutting costs, and secondly, it injects tension into the organization. But if we only reduce the number of executives, the regular employees might feel that their lives are as fragile as a fly's. This could actually strengthen the public service mindset. So, we should elevate some regular employees to fill the vacant positions of executives and bring a fresh breeze into the organization. These days, there’s another trend: people are reluctant to be promoted. When someone becomes an executive, they feel like they are in a precarious position. In the past, promotions encouraged some people, but now, people don’t even seek promotions. What I need is just time; all I want from the company is to pay my salary well and let me leave work on time. This is not just the case for Samsung.

It's not just a problem for me; it's an issue for all companies in South Korea right now. So, while working like this, are we producing significant productivity? Well, that raises a lot of questions. If you try to be productive and push your colleagues, that person ends up being ostracized. If you suggest working a bit more, even if it means staying past quitting time to finish up tasks or take on new projects, people will just quietly go along with the status quo. Why create waves? Can't we just quietly receive our salaries and work at the company? Why does the department I join suddenly become busy when it was previously relaxed? Being next to me makes them tired, and I become a target of criticism. Ultimately, even those who wanted to work hard end up feeling isolated and think, I shouldn't do anything, and that mindset spreads within the organization. Now, let's talk about Samsung.

There is a crisis at Samsung, but this crisis might be an issue that all of South Korea is currently facing. This problem is not just about Samsung; it is essential for the company to show exemplary leadership in addressing it. If Samsung still holds the pride of being the number one company, it should demonstrate how it resolves this issue. Additionally, leaving a precedent for how to tackle this problem could be one of the significant responsibilities that Samsung should undertake to invigorate the South Korean economy. 

Ultimately, there needs to be a fundamental change in organizational culture. This is a core issue. For a long time, I have tried not to mention the term domestic representative company because of my position, but the rumors of a crisis at Samsung have been endless. There have been constant discussions that Samsung is a company on the verge of collapse. The reason is not anything else.

It's HBM. I missed the timing to step into HBM, so now I'm almost more than a lap behind on the track. In short track speed skating, there are times like this when you're competing in rankings with athletes who are either a lap ahead or a lap behind. Right now, it's like Samsung is in a position where it's competing in rankings with those who are a lap behind after completing a lap. It's not easy to break through this situation. 

First of all, HBM is almost like a product exclusive to NVIDIA. We need to succeed in supplying it to NVIDIA, but there are several hurdles to overcome. The yield is low, and there are other issues as well. Fundamentally, even with the U.S. blocking everything against China, Huawei is still rapidly releasing new products that are catching up to Samsung's new products.

You know, we all start on the shoulders of giants, but if we remain so blocked, it might be a good idea to climb onto a different building and look at the world from another perspective. A long time ago, Mr. Keating said that we need to get up on our desks to see the world. Now, it might be good to change our viewpoint and consider a different position. In any case, recovering technological competitiveness is a prerequisite. There are important and urgent tasks in the world. Right now, the important task for Samsung is to revive its organizational culture, and the urgent task is to restore its technological capabilities. If we can recover both, I believe a new renaissance could emerge for Samsung. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the title reads, Samsung Electronics, which failed to show innovation, also lost its title as the world's best workplace. That's quite bad.

It seems like a big deal, right? In fact, we gave up the first place, and by doing so, Samsung Electronics has become the third-best company to work for in the world. The real content of this announcement is incredibly positive. Samsung Electronics is indeed the third-best workplace globally. For the past four years, it has been the best workplace in the world. That's truly remarkable. There are no companies from our country in the top 10 globally; Samsung Electronics is the only one. However, while we were in first place, now we find ourselves in this situation. I've mentioned this repeatedly: scoring 90 points is a good achievement. Especially when someone who usually scores 50 points suddenly gets 90, they might be accused of cheating. But when someone who usually scores 100 points gets 90, they are scolded for not studying and playing around. Samsung Electronics is currently in that exact situation.

Even now, a student who used to score 100 points is getting only 97 points and is facing criticism. Meanwhile, the stock price has plummeted to around 50,000 won, and people are being scolded for it. However, individual investors are still borrowing money to buy Samsung Electronics. On the other hand, there are foreign evaluations stating that Samsung's brand value ranks among the global top five, following Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. Hyundai Motor Company ranks 30th. When we travel abroad, we can clearly feel Samsung's brand power ourselves. The ranking is around 5th place, and based solely on brand value, it exceeds 100 billion dollars. So, in Korean won, we need to multiply 100 million by 1 to get 1.5 trillion.

해야지, 이게 원화 환산 브랜드 가치가 되는 거예요. 어마어마하게 좋은 뉴스인데, 이런 굿뉴스조차도 지금 참 씁쓸하죠. 입맛이 참 씁니다. 이게 정말 쓰냐? 먹고 나면 사탕 하나 먹는다고 달라질 게 없잖아요. 정말 매운 고추를 먹었는데, 입안에 불이 났어요. 지금 우유 한 모금 마신다고 뭐가 달라지겠어요? 매운 고추, 매운 고추를 어떻게 해결해야 되는데, 지금 매운 고추가 문제인 게 아니라 한 접시가 앞에 놓여 있어요. 이거 다 먹어야 된다니, 어떡하지? 지금 이런 고민이 삼성이 진짜 고민이다. 한 접시, 뭐냐? 지금 당장 매운 고추 하나는 비다의 HBM 납품하는 것과 비유한다면, 이거 말고도 앞에서 먹어 치워야 할 남은 매운 고추가 뭐냐?

Chinese low-cost DRAM is truly a symbol of advanced technology. But what is the main point of making money right now? And what is it that Samsung proudly claims as the world's number one? They say it's the general-purpose DRAM. In the past, the products released by competitors were so poor that they were practically unusable, but now they have become somewhat usable, and the prices are incredibly cheap. So, if these products don't need to be of high quality, people might as well use the Chinese ones. As this trend increases, Samsung is currently facing a threat. This is the fundamental issue. Therefore, creating a technological gap is Samsung's real challenge. Ultimately, that overwhelming technology is about the technology itself. What should they do? First, they are sending R&D personnel to the factories to address the issues they encounter on-site immediately.

Reflecting this, emphasizing the integration with the field, ultimately, if we invest in future technologies, it will revert to a centralized format. However, currently, it is crucial to focus on the field. This realization has led to the judgment that this large-scale integration is very urgent. While we had been complacent with academic discussions and research, now we are faced with the immediate urgency of the AI issue. The AI chip, specifically HBM, is the focus. The goal is to reduce the technology gap in HBM. According to Maeil Business Newspaper, the current technology gap between SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics in HBM is about one year. It’s like a short track athlete racing on the track, where the first and second place competitors are a lap apart while still racing together. Samsung is currently in this situation.

If we don't pick up the pace here, it will be a difficult situation to overcome. So, what should we do? The basic principle of fighting is selection and concentration. We need to focus our capabilities in one area. The AI accelerator that we were working on is, according to daily economic expressions, a giant dinosaur of future technology. I believe that such technology is indeed very necessary. However, what Samsung needs right now is a lot. Even in the case of LEDs, it’s a business that brings in 2 trillion won a year. Is 2 trillion won a small amount or an enormous sum? Closing a 2 trillion won business to concentrate on this is not something Samsung can tolerate. They cannot accept being second; they are currently lagging behind in HBM by a whole year. To catch up in a year, they need to mix in 2 trillion won worth of business. This sense of crisis is very real.

So, I don't know if it will go well. I hope Samsung does well. I wish it could catch up with SK Hynix. I want our company to do well, Samsung to do well, and all the companies in our country to thrive. I also hope our company does well, so that my salary increases a lot and I receive a big bonus at the end of the year.

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심상찮은 삼성 반도체 위기... 파운드리 박살 난 결정적 이유 [강스라이팅 뉴스zip]

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