Seoul, Korea, March 09, 2001
Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. (HEI) will change its name to ‘hynix Semiconductor Inc.’. HEI’s board members unanimously selected the new corporate identity and the new name will be confirmed by shareholders in a general meeting to be held the end of March. hynix Semiconductor’ symbolizes a higher and more advanced level of electronic semiconductor technology combined with the company’s awareness of the influence of technology on society. With its new corporate designation, HEI will be reborn focusing on the core business of semiconductors after the spin-off of the telecommunication and liquid crystal display (LCD) businesses by the first half of this year. Since 1998, HEI has severed other non-core operations, such as customer service, satellite, monitor and personal computer businesses What is remarkable regarding HEI’s change of name is that it is the first primary affiliate in the Hyundai group to discard the name ‘Hyundai’ and assert a strong conviction for independency. ‘Hyundai’, a globally recognized brand, is now poised to establish its own brand power as a leading semiconductor company with a change of corporate entity. HEI, preparing for the name change since December 2000, will disaffiliate itself from the Hyundai group and become a semiconductor specialized company. ‘hynix Semiconductor Inc.’ was selected from among 600 other suggestions contributed by HEI’s local and overseas employees as well as an international branding company. HEI carefully examined local and overseas registered brands in over 20 countries, including any negative image checks, in the timeframe of six weeks. Design efforts for the new corporate name and identity will be completed by the end of March. An announcement of the new name confirmation by the shareholders will also be concluded at the end of this month. ###
