SK hynix CEO shares future vision of memory chips

By Baek Byung-yeul

Lee Seok-hee, CEO of memory chip maker SK hynix, stressed that demand for memory chips will be on the rise as social-distancing has become the new normal, while their role will also expand in the future beyond existing functions such as storing and processing data.

“In the era of fierce competition for miniaturization, the matters of technology completion and productivity were dealt with through vertical relations with suppliers,” the CEO said in a keynote speech to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS), Monday.

The IEEE IRPS has been a conference for engineers and scientists in the microelectronics field for 59 years and this year's event was held online.

The CEO also emphasized that SK hynix will work to improve quality of life in the modern world through advanced technology by pursuing the company's Financial Story strategy and encouraged all members of the semiconductor ecosystem to take part in the endeavor.

“Now, however, is the time when various partners building the semiconductor industry ecosystem must form a cooperative partnership. Only by establishing a strategic partnership for open innovation based on collaboration and sharing with customers, suppliers, academia and government, can we shape a new era, which pursues both economic and social values,” Lee said.

SK hynix has been highlighting its Financial Story strategy, which is the company's vision to contribute to society by strengthening environmental, social and governance (ESG) management.

“SK hynix will take the initiative in enhancing the quality of our lives, solving environmental issues, and pursuing the happiness of our employees and stakeholders. We will incorporate scaling, social and smart value in technological development to achieve the ultimate goal of making a better ICT world,” the CEO said.

Speaking about the future of memory chips, such as DRAM and NAND flash memory, Lee predicted that such memory chips will develop toward a convergence of memory and logic in order to overcome performance limitations. This means that some of the computing functions of the central processing unit (CPU) are incorporated into the functions of DRAM, he added.

“SK hynix is preparing for the future by taking the evolutionary path and the revolutionary path to respond to changes in semiconductor memories. We will continue to incorporate the value of scaling in conventional memory, to include social value in the next generation memory and intelligent memory, and to encompass the value of smart in the post von-Neumann era,” he said.

The so-called “von Neumann architecture” is the fundamental framework on which nearly all digital computers have been based. This framework includes a single, centralized control contained in the central processing unit plus a separate storage area.