Ryu Byung-hoon, vice president of future strategy at SK hynix, has emphasized the need for cautious investment in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). In an interview with the SK hynix Newsroom on June 4, Ryu mentioned, “As AI services become more advanced, the memory wall is often highlighted as a limit,” adding that “HBM is emerging as a solution to this, and its demand is expected to increase.”

The term “memory wall” refers to a bottleneck situation where the data needed for processing next has not yet reached memory, causing the processor to wait.

Ryu’s future strategy team has developed a market analysis tool to forecast memory market conditions. As a result, the team has transformed into an organization that looks into short-term and long-term strategies, investment efficiency, and geopolitical issues this year.

“Many AI companies are relying on venture capital, and there’s also demand driven by FOMO,” Ryu said. He suggests that as latecomer companies in the AI sector expand their semiconductor purchases to manufacture advanced products, SK hynix could benefit. FOMO, which stands for the fear of missing out, refers to the anxiety of being left behind or excluded.

Ryu stressed the need to be cautious about investing in the HBM market. “Considering the pace of AI data center construction, we need to carefully increase our investments,” he said. Previously, memory manufacturers engaged in an excessive expansion of production capacity, leading to a significant drop in profitability during last year’s semiconductor downturn. In response, Ryu stated that SK hynix would maintain a conservative investment approach to ensure profitability.

He concluded, “Considering the competitive environment, strategic alliances and close customer service will become even more important, and I will contemplate our future strategies accordingly.