At the 55th anniversary celebration last week, Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-hee asserted: “Without change, there can be no innovation or growth.”

He calls for the creation of technologies that do not yet exist, technologies that can change lives, bring better experiences and more convenient lives to customers, turning them into distinct competitive advantages in the future.

Amid the company’s perceived crisis, Samsung’s leadership stressed the need to view challenges as opportunities for rebirth. “Bold growth” has become the new goal to overcome the current multifaceted crisis.

He called for eliminating selfishness and separation between departments, between leaders and employees, and ineffective working cultures and systems.

lj5ydjyl.png
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO Han Jong-hee speaks at an event marking the company's 55th anniversary on November 1, 2024. Photo: Samsung

Mr. Han cited AI as a driving force for development in the next decade, where unbelievable changes will become part of everyday life. “Remember that the future always starts now and belongs to those who are well prepared.”

“If we all come together and combine our collective strength with the foundation we have developed, we can become an even stronger Samsung,” he said. That requires new approaches, from working methods to discovering new growth drivers.

About 400 Samsung executives and employees attended the celebration on November 1. Formerly known as Samsung Electronics Industry, founded in January 1969, the company changed its anniversary date to November 1 after merging with Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications in November 1988.

Focus on high-value AI chips

After reporting quarterly business results III disappointed, Samsung said, will focus on high-value chip production and is ready to supply high-bandwidth memory chips HBM3E, as well as aiming to produce new-generation HBM4 chips in the second half of 2025.

Despite the delay in commercializing the HBM3E chip, Samsung has made “meaningful” progress by passing a key stage in chip quality testing with major customers, according to Kim Jae-june, vice president of the memory chip division. The company expects to increase HBM3E sales in the fourth quarter of this year.

Although he did not mention any specific names, it seems that the customer he was referring to was Nvidia, the world's largest semiconductor company.

Samsung earlier reported operating profit of 9.2 trillion won ($6.66 billion) in the July-September period, well below forecasts.

The chip division posted sales of 29.2 trillion won and operating profit of 3.9 trillion won in the same period.

In an effort to consolidate its position in the HBM market – where compatriot SK Hynix is ​​far behind – Samsung will join hands with foundry TSMC to provide “tailor-made” chips according to customer requirements.

Samsung is also preparing to introduce a more advanced HBM3E chip line to meet the needs of major customers for future GPU projects.

At the same time, reduce the proportion of older products such as DDR4 and LPDDR4 – which are facing fierce competition – and increase the proportion of products such as DDR5 modules for servers and LPDDR5X.

On the smartphone front, Samsung plans to launch a cheaper foldable smartphone and a new phone form factor.

The mobile division's sales in the third quarter reached 2.99 trillion won, up 13 percent from the previous quarter, but operating profit fell to 2.8 trillion won. The company sold 57 million smartphones and 7 million tablets.

By 2025, prices for key components will increase, according to Daniel Araujo, vice president of mobile devices.

However, the world's largest phone maker aims to improve profits through improvements to Galaxy AI and increased sales of its premium product line.

(According to Korea Herald, Korea Times)