▲SK Telecom President Yoo Young-sang at a press conference at CES 2022
Announcing the vision of the 'SK ICT Alliance'.

SK Group's three major companies announced an "ICT alliance" at CES 2022.
Joint investment in self-developed AI semiconductor SAPEON
New Business Model: "Inside America" Strategy

SK Square, SK Telecom, and SK Hynix will jointly develop and invest in technological convergence across various ICT fields, including semiconductors, 5G, and AI, at CES 2022 to advance into the global market.

SK Square, SK Telecom, and SK Hynix announced the launch of the 'SK ICT Alliance' at 'CES 2022,' the world's largest home appliance and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA from the 5th to the 7th (local time).

The three companies above will operate the '3-Company Synergy Council' led by Vice Chairman Park Jeong-ho and attended by Presidents Yoo Young-sang and Lee Seok-hee starting in January of this year. SK's highest decision-making body discusses domestic and international R&D (research and development) cooperation and joint investments in the semiconductor and ICT fields, and promotes global expansion.


■ SKT to nurture SAPEON, its own AI semiconductor

The first result of the synergy between SK ICT's three companies is the global market entry of SAPEON, Korea's first AI semiconductor for data centers.

SK Telecom plans to leverage its accumulated R&D capabilities and service experience in 5G and AI to lead the development of SAPEON technology, thereby expanding its lineup of SAPEON models dedicated to data centers and autonomous driving in the mid- to long-term. SK Hynix will seek synergies between its memory semiconductor technology and AI semiconductors, while SK Square announced plans to jointly attract strategic and financial investors with SK Telecom.

SAPEON will serve as a forward base for expanding its AI semiconductor business, targeting global big tech companies as key clients. This will help secure the abundant semiconductor development talent in the US and attract external investment.


SK Hynix Implements "Inside America" Strategy

Recently, the semiconductor market has been experiencing diversification in demand sources such as AI, autonomous driving, and the metaverse, as well as diversification within system architecture fields such as CPUs, GPUs, and MPUs. To maintain continued competitiveness, it is necessary to discover new business models and develop technologies.

SK Hynix announced that it plans to acquire Intel's NAND business unit to strengthen its NAND flash competitiveness and move beyond its existing role as a semiconductor supplier to become a company that leads future technologies together with leading global ICT companies.

In particular, the company announced that it would implement the 'Inside America' strategy in the United States, the world's largest ICT market, to strengthen business competitiveness and expand new partnerships.

SK Hynix President Lee Seok-hee emphasized, “SK Hynix will leap forward as a global first-class technology company through even more outstanding technology and products, and through creating value for humanity and society.”