SK hynix names Ryu Sung-soo as new CEO of its US unit

Seoul: South Korean chip giant SK hynix has appointed Vice President Ryu Sung-soo as the new CEO of its US unit, SK hynix America.

Ryu succeeded Kim Ju-seon, who had led SK hynix America for the past four years, according to the company through social media on Sunday (Korean time), reports Yonhap news agency.

“Ryu has played a pivotal role in advancing memory and semiconductor solutions, driving groundbreaking innovations in high bandwidth memory (HBM) technology and DRAM product planning,” SK hynix America said in a LinkedIn post.

“We are confident that he will be an exceptional leader, guiding us into an exciting new chapter for SK hynix America.”

Since his promotion in 2019, Ryu had been leading global sales and marketing of HBM business.

SK hynix America, located in San Jose, Silicon Valley, serves as a critical communication hub between SK hynix and its U.S. customers.

Meanwhile, SK hynix posted a record-breaking performance in 2024, achieving 66.2 trillion won (US$46.2 billion) in sales and 23.5 trillion won in operating profit, driven by robust sales of HBM products amid the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

SK hynix’s fourth-quarter earnings hit a record high on rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, including high bandwidth memory (HBM), sharply beating market expectations.

Its 2024 revenues and operating profits also broke previous records, the company said.

The world’s second-largest memory chipmaker said in a regulatory filing that its fourth-quarter net income reached 8 trillion won (US$5.6 billion), shifting from a loss of 1.37 trillion won a year earlier.

Its operating income for the October-December period shot up more than 20 times to 8.08 trillion won from 346 billion won a year ago. Its sales vaulted 74.8 percent on-year to 19.76 trillion won.

—IANS