HBM Price Preemptive Increase, Sangrak Lee SK Hynix Vice President Awarded Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit

Recognized for Leading the AI Memory Semiconductor Market
"Sales and Marketing Teams as the Company's 'Closing Pitchers'"

Lee Sang-rak, Vice President of SK Hynix (in charge of Global S&M), was awarded the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit for achieving export performance of $18.6 billion (approximately 26.6 trillion KRW) in the first half of the year, SK Hynix announced on the 9th.

Vice President Lee contributed to increasing SK Hynix's overall sales and national export volume related to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for artificial intelligence (AI). Even when the global market entered a downturn and the company fell into a deficit, he accurately anticipated the surge in HBM demand and took a strategic approach by proactively raising prices, thereby taking responsibility for the company's sales.

Lee Sang-rak, Vice President of SK Hynix, received the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit at the 61st Trade Day ceremony. Photo by SK Hynix

Vice President Lee received the highest award, the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit, at the '61st Trade Day Ceremony' held on the 5th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit is the highest-ranking award given by the government to those who have contributed to exports over the one-year period from July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current year.

He was recognized for his achievements in proactively responding to environmental changes in the AI era and leading the AI memory semiconductor market, including HBM. Vice President Lee is the head of the global S&M organization responsible for overall company sales. He is tasked with increasing sales through sales and marketing. In an interview with the company newsroom, he likened the role of the organization to a 'closing pitcher,' meaning that after intense strategic negotiations with customers, they lead the 'victory' by having the company's products recognized at the highest value.

Demonstrating strategic qualities, he greatly contributed to SK Hynix overcoming the downturn and solidifying its position as the world's top memory semiconductor company. Based on the company's technological capabilities and customer negotiation skills, he established a strategy to expand sales of high-profit products tailored to each customer, securing stable sales. He quickly grasped inventory and supply-demand trends for each customer and proactively raised prices. As a result, the company turned profitable for the first time in the industry after the downturn in the fourth quarter of last year.

He then reallocated HBM and general memory production capabilities to target the server and enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) markets. As a result, as of the second quarter, SK Hynix achieved sales of 17.5731 trillion KRW and operating profit of 7.03 trillion KRW, marking the highest quarterly sales in the company's history.

Vice President Lee urged the organization and all company members to adopt a 'customer-centric mindset.' He emphasized the importance of fostering a 'one team' culture that actively communicates throughout the process of achieving goals.

He said, "The performance we have achieved is not simply the result of one company's success but a demonstration of Korea's stature in the global market and the competitiveness of the national semiconductor industry, which fills me with great pride. I ask for much encouragement so that the sales and marketing organization members continue to play a significant role as SK Hynix's closing pitchers for the national economy and future industrial development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.