[기업 한류, K-헤리티지로]
〈3〉 Samsung, No. 1 in Memory Semiconductors
Founding Chairman Lee Byung-chul: “There is no way to survive without technology.”
First mass production of own memory in half a year since launch… Successful development of world’s first 64Mb DRAM 9 years later
“Overcoming the HBM crisis in the AI era with a ‘super gap’”… Entering into innovation such as foundry process innovation
《Three great scenes of semiconductor gap
There is a semiconductor that has become an exhibit at the National Museum of Korean History. It is the first memory developed by Samsung Electronics in 1992, the 64Mb (megabit) DRAM. It is a symbol of the ‘super gap’ heritage that made Samsung, the world’s number one memory semiconductor company, the current world’s number one memory semiconductor company. Samsung, which has risen to the top of the world by clinging to the super gap with a sense of urgency that “if we take the steps one by one like others, we will become a technologically backward country,” is recently facing a new challenge in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). The strategy is to overcome the crisis with a second super gap.
On the 24th, on the 5th floor of the National Museum of Korean History in Jongno-gu, Seoul, there was a corner called ‘The Era of Prosperity’ after major modern history exhibitions such as the Liberation Day, the Democratic Uprising, and the Saemaul Movement. In the center was a wafer shining under the light and a single semiconductor the size of a fingernail. It was the first memory semiconductor developed by Samsung Electronics in 1992, the 64Mb (megabit) DRAM that led Korea into a full-fledged economic boom.
Samsung Electronics rose to the top of the world nine years after declaring its entry into the memory semiconductor market in 1983, by beating out its competitors and producing a 64Mb DRAM. The history museum explained the significance of the 64Mb DRAM product, saying, “The semiconductor industry narrowed the technological gap with advanced countries.”
● “Even if half of Samsung flies away, we will challenge”
The DRAM, which is also on display at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, is a symbol of Samsung’s unique ‘super gap’ heritage that has made it the world’s No. 1 memory semiconductor company. A super gap is a gap that competitors cannot overcome. Major events in Samsung’s semiconductor history that demonstrated its super gap heritage include ① the development of its first self-memory 64kb (kilobits) DRAM, ② the 3D V-NAND that broke industry common sense, and ③ the world’s first 7nm mass production using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure equipment.
It was an adventure that had to greatly surpass Korea’s technological level from the start. When the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul declared his entry into the global memory semiconductor market with the Tokyo Declaration in 1983, only the United States and Japan had succeeded in developing and mass producing high-end memory semiconductors.
In order to overcome the ridicule of the global industry and achieve a super gap, Samsung started with ‘mental armament’. The developers repeated the ‘Semiconductor Creed’ Ten Commandments every morning, such as ‘Get rid of the idea that it can’t be done’ and ‘Have a big goal’, and devoted themselves to research day and night. Samsung eventually surprised the world by successfully mass producing 64kb DRAM in November 1983, just six months after starting development.
In an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo on April 27, 1985, the founding chairman recalled, “If we make a mistake, more than half of Samsung Group’s assets could disappear. However, I thought it would be difficult to take on this adventure without Samsung.” He emphasized that “without active technological development, there is no way for our economy to survive,” and that we must continue the desperate gap.
Former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee also wrote in his 1997 essay, “Let’s Think About the World” (Dong-A Ilbo), “Semiconductor integration technology advanced a whopping 4,000 times in just 10 years from 1983 to 1994,” and “I judged that if we didn’t leap forward, we would forever remain a technologically backward country.” He was emphasizing that we had to leap forward by a huge margin rather than taking gradual steps in order to survive.
The heritage that it must be a super gap led to the world’s first mass production of 3D V-NAND flash memory in 2013. This was an event that provided the impetus for Korean semiconductors to open the 3D memory era. Existing NAND technology was expected to be limited to 10nm (nanometer) level processes. Samsung Electronics came up with the idea of ’if the area is small, let’s stack it up to expand the house.’ It independently developed a 3D cell structure and a vertical stacking technology that stacked them in 24 layers, opening the door to the stacked NAND market.
The preemptive introduction of EUV equipment, which is shaking up the global advanced semiconductor market, also changed the history of semiconductors. By first introducing EUV equipment, which is essential for implementing cutting-edge semiconductors below 7nm, the company began mass producing 7nm system semiconductors using EUV equipment for the first time in the world in 2019. A Samsung Electronics official said, “It is a scene that is evaluated as having overcome the limitations of semiconductor microfabrication and presented a new paradigm.”
● AI crisis… Competing with ultra-gap heritage
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has also emphasized technological innovation whenever he had the chance. In August 2018, he visited the Hwaseong semiconductor plant in Gyeonggi Province and emphasized, “In order to prepare for future semiconductor demand, a ‘technological super gap’ must be maintained.” In addition, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Giheung Semiconductor Research and Development (R&D) Complex in August 2022, he urged the spirit of a super gap, saying, “Let’s create the future with technology that does not exist in the world.” Samsung Electronics is currently the ‘world’s only’ semiconductor total solution provider with memory, foundry (semiconductor consignment manufacturing), system LSI (design), and advanced packaging businesses, and its strategy is to differentiate itself from competitors through a customer-tailored turnkey (one-stop supply) strategy.
However, Samsung’s ultra-gap strategy is also facing challenges as the market is rapidly changing due to artificial intelligence (AI). This is because it is facing an unprecedented crisis, having lost the top spot in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, a cutting-edge memory, to its competitor SK Hynix, and being pushed out by Taiwan’s TSMC in the foundry sector. In response, Samsung Electronics has launched a comprehensive organizational overhaul, including establishing an HBM development team within its memory division and spurring the improvement of foundry process yields and customer acquisition.
The breakthrough to overcome the crisis is also being sought in the ‘super gap’ heritage. It is a matter of thinking about a new ‘spiritual armament’ that will ‘make the impossible possible.’ Recently, the company is soliciting employees to come up with a second semiconductor creed that will inherit the super gap spirit but fit the new era. Samsung Electronics said, “As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our semiconductor business, we are at an important turning point in a new environment different from the past,” and “The semiconductor creed that has been the center of Samsung Semiconductor for the past half century must also be reborn with a new form suitable for the next 50 years.”
2024-09-25 01:24:27