SK Hynix appoints R&D head as new CEO
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix has appointed its research and development (R&D) chief Park Sung-wook as the new chief executive.
Park, who joined the company in 1984, replaces Kwon On-chul whose term has expired, SK Hynix said in a regulatory filing, according to a Yonhap News Agency report Tuesday.
Kwon will remain as a company advisor, it added.
SK Hynix said with its financial stability, it plans to accelerate technology-focused growth, and Park's leadership will help it tide over uncertainties in the chip market, the report noted.
SK Hynix last month reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, and wants to diversify its business into mobile chips, which are more profitable, according to a separate report by Bloomberg Tuesday.
The appointment of a new CEO comes as the global chip industry is seeing falling demand for PC chips, the report added.
SK Hynix, which was acquired by SK Telecom in 2012, said the memory chip market is facing various inflection points, including an industry-wide reshuffle and preparation of the next-generation memory chips. "In order to rapidly address such technical change in the future, the industry requires technology leadership," it said.
The company's fourth quarter net income was 164 billion won (US$151 million), compared with a loss of 239.9 billion won (US$221.9 million) the year before, SK Hynix reported on January 30.
Last month, Chey Tae Won, chairman of SK Holdings, was sentenced to a four-year prison term on embezzlement charges.