US HQ to choose new management team soon
The regional manager and key executives at KLA’s business unit in South Korea are expected to quit soon, TheElec has learned.
KLA-Tencor Korea president Bruce Chung and up to five others have quit or is planning to quit the company soon, people familiar with the matter said.
KLA’s US headquarters is expected to choose their new management team to replace them soon, they said.
KLA is a top fab equipment along with Applied Materials, Lam Research, ASML and Tokyo Electron.
The company dominates the measuring and inspection equipment space.
It has facilities in multiple areas in South Korea, including Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek and Cheongju.
KLA-Tencor Korea supplies and repairs its equipment supplied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
It has around 370 staff and has been operating with two co-presidents, Bruce Chung and Bren Douglas.
Chung has been president of the South Korean business unit since 2010.
It remains unclear why him and fellow executives are leaving the company. KLA’s South Korean operation has been performing solidly in recent quarters.
Last year, KLA recorded around US$5.8 billion in sales. South Korea accounted for US$981.27 million out of that total figure, or 17% of its total sales.
South Korea is its third biggest market after Taiwan, which accounted for 27% of its sales, and China, which accounted for 25%.
KLA’s South Korean operation recorded US$584.09 million in sales last year, a 68% increase from 2019.
A KLA-Tencor Korea spokesperson said the president was leaving for personal reasons.