黄昌圭 移动芯片老兵的新挑战

Hwang Chang-gyu jokes that the iPhone might not be here today had it not been for his vision for mobile chips.

黄昌圭(Hwang Chang Gyu)开玩笑说，若不是他提出移动芯片愿景，可能就不会有今天的iPhone。

In 2004, when he was head of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business, Mr Hwang was invited by the late Steve Jobs to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. The Apple founder was mulling how to make the iPod slimmer and its battery last longer.

2004年，在担任三星电子(Samsung Electronics)半导体业务负责人时，黄昌圭被已故的史蒂夫•乔布斯(Steve Jobs)请到苹果(Apple)位于库比蒂诺的总部。苹果公司创始人在琢磨着如何让iPod的机身更纤薄，电池续航能力更长。

“At that time, the iPod was quite bulky with its battery lasting only two hours. Mr Jobs wanted to make a fancier design. And he was already thinking about making the iPhone,” recalls the 62-year-old.

现年62岁的黄昌圭回忆道：“当时，iPod机身相当笨重，电池只能用两个小时。乔布斯希望做出更漂亮的设计。他当时已在考虑生产iPhone了。”

Mr Hwang was a prominent figure in the global semiconductor industry, partly because of a theory published in 2002 — locally dubbed Hwang’s Law — that memory chip density would double each year, a more rapid evolution than that previously observed by Gordon Moore, Intel’s co-founder.

黄昌圭是全球半导体产业的一位知名人物，这在一定程度上源于2002年发表的一项理论，该理论在韩国被称为黄氏法则(Hwang’s Law)，即内存芯片密度将每年翻倍，这一发展速度快于当年英特尔(Intel)联合创始人戈登•摩尔(Gordon Moore)提出的“摩尔定律”。

The South Korean showed Jobs Samsung’s newly-developed flash memory chips, which store data and whose development he had spearheaded. “He said ‘this is exactly what I wanted’.” Then Jobs laid out his vision of Apple’s future to Mr Hwang for nearly an hour, writing details on a whiteboard.

黄昌圭向乔布斯展示了三星新研发的闪存芯片，这种用来存储数据的芯片是由他带队研发的。“他说‘这正是我想要的’。”接着，乔布斯用了近一个小时向黄昌圭讲述了他对苹果未来的愿景，并把具体内容写在一块白板上。

When the iPhone was launched in 2007, Samsung ended up as its main supplier of key parts, including flash memory chips, application processors and display panels.

当苹果于2007年推出iPhone时，三星成为该手机关键零配件的主要供应商，包括闪存芯片、应用处理器和显示屏。

The partnership has helped to cement Mr Hwang’s status as one of the rare stars among South Korean business leaders — and propel him into the CEO’s chair at KT Corp, the country’s biggest telecoms company by sales.

这种合作帮助巩固了黄昌圭作为韩国商界领袖中为数不多的明星级人物的地位，并把他推上了韩国最大电信运营商（以销售额计）韩国电信(KT Corp)首席执行官的职位。

Clad in navy suit, white shirt, blue tie and silver-rimmed glasses, he cuts a neat figure at the company’s futuristic new HQ in downtown Seoul, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.

在首尔市中心由意大利建筑师伦佐•皮亚诺(Renzo Piano)设计的未来主义风格的韩国电信新总部大楼，身穿深蓝色西装、白色衬衣，系着蓝色领带、带着银边眼镜的黄昌圭展现出一副整洁利落的形象。

He took over at KT a year ago, after a brief stint as the country’s chief technology officer, attempting to develop new growth engines for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. In that role, Mr Hwang tried to make South Korea less of a “fast follower” and more of an innovator, complete with a more tolerant approach to risk-taking and productive failure.

他是在一年前接掌韩国电信的。之前他曾担任韩国的首席技术官，力图为亚洲第四大经济体开发新的增长引擎。在那个职位上，黄昌圭力图让韩国在更大程度上做一个创新者，而不再是“快速跟随者”，包括对冒险和“有益的挫折”采取更加宽容的姿态。

The challenges of his current post have been even more pressing. He admits that he could not sleep well when he joined KT, overwhelmed by the daunting task of turning round the group.

目前职位所面临的挑战甚至更为紧迫。他承认，刚加盟韩国电信时，扭转该集团局面的艰巨任务让他无法安睡。

Soon after his arrival, he had to make a public apology for a personal data leak affecting KT customers, as well as a financial scam that predated him involving one of its subsidiaries. The former state-run company, which has a market capitalisation of Won8.3tn (£5.1bn), suffered a Won966bn net loss last year on sales of Won23.42tn.

在他上任后不久，他不得不为一起影响韩国电信客户的个人数据泄露事件以及一桩财务欺诈案（发生在他任职之前，涉及该集团一家子公司）公开致歉。去年，这家市值为8.3万亿韩元（合51亿英镑）的前国营企业遭遇9660亿韩元净亏损，销售额为23.42万亿韩元。

Mr Hwang has embarked on a massive restructuring to reduce the size of KT, slashing about 8,300 jobs or a quarter of its workforce and letting go of a third of its executives. He is selling non-core assets such as the car rental and financing units to strengthen the company’s balance sheet, after it diversified in search of new growth under his predecessor, Lee Suk-chae, who has gone on trial for alleged embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty.

黄昌圭已启动大规模重组计划，以缩减韩国电信的规模，裁员约8300人，占员工总数的四分之一，还裁撤了三分之一的高管。他正出售非核心资产（例如汽车租赁和融资部门），以增强公司的资产负债表。此前在他的前任李锡采(Lee Suk-chae)领导下，韩国电信曾走上业务多元化的道路，以寻找新的增长点；李锡采因涉嫌挪用公款和违反受信责任正接受审判。

There have been early signs of recovery. KT last week posted a Won281bn net profit for the first quarter of 2015, while the number of wireless subscribers was up 6.2 per cent year-on-year to 17.5m in the same period, with average revenue per user up 4.5 per cent.

早期复苏迹象正在显现。韩国电信最近报告，2015年第一季度实现净利润2810亿韩元，同期无线付费用户数量同比增加6.2%，至1750万人，每用户平均收入增长4.5%。

Finding new revenue streams is now the company’s biggest challenge as South Korea’s mobile market nears saturation, with fierce competition among the country’s three telecoms groups depressing their margins.

找到新的收入来源是韩国电信目前面临的最大挑战。随着韩国移动市场接近饱和，该国三家电信集团之间的激烈竞争正挤压利润率。

Mr Hwang is pinning his hopes on futuristic services in five areas — energy, healthcare, security, transportation and next-generation media — convinced that KT can become a leader in the “internet of things”, in which ever more objects are connected electronically.

黄昌圭正寄望于在5个领域（能源、医疗、安全、交通和下一代媒体）提供面向未来的服务。他相信，韩国电信能够成为“物联网”（以电子方式连接越来越多的物件）领军企业。

South Korea is already the world’s most wired nation with the fastest internet network. KT, which is leading the country’s drive for fifth-generation, or 5G, mobile connectivity, is investing Won4.5tn during Mr Hwang’s three-year term to build superfast internet networks that will be more than 10 times faster than current ones.

韩国已是全球连接程度最高的国家，拥有速度最快的互联网基础设施。韩国电信正领导该国第五代移动通信(5G)技术项目。在黄昌圭的三年任期内，该公司将投资4.5万亿韩元，建设超高速互联网基础设施，其速度将比现有网络快10倍以上。

“Telecoms itself could be a mature business but the industry’s paradigm will completely change when telecoms networks and platforms converge with other industries,” he says. “The industry could see explosive growth in data traffic once the 5G technology enables various connected services.”

“电信业本身可能已成熟，但是当电信网络及平台与其他行业融合之后，该行业的范式将发生彻底变化，”他表示。“一旦5G技术使各种互联服务成为可能，业界可能看到数据流量出现爆炸性增长。”

Mr Hwang was born in Busan, the country’s southernmost port city, where his youth included a stint in the high school choir. His grandfather was a famous palace painter towards the end of the Chosun dynasty.

黄昌圭出生于韩国最南部港口城市釜山，年轻时曾参加中学合唱团。他的祖父是朝鲜王朝末期的一位著名宫廷画师。

After graduating from Seoul National University and studying for a doctorate in the US, he worked as an adviser for technology companies, including Intel. With his children growing up, he mulled a return to his homeland.

从首尔大学(Seoul National University)毕业后，他奔赴美国攻读博士学位，之后曾担任英特尔等科技公司的顾问。随着子女长大，他开始考虑回国。

An ambition to overtake Japanese chipmakers — which he had viewed up close on a business trip while working as a researcher at Stanford University — led him to join Samsung in 1989.

在斯坦福大学(Stanford University)担任研究员期间的一次出差中，他曾近距离审视日本芯片制造商。超越日本企业的雄心促使他在1989年加盟三星。

“At that time, Japanese companies were very much advanced in semiconductor technology and manufacturing, although they were a little behind Intel in terms of design capability,” recalls Mr Hwang. “The trip helped me set a goal [of beating Japan] and join Samsung.”

“当时，日本企业在半导体技术和制造方面非常先进，尽管他们在设计能力方面稍稍滞后于英特尔，”黄昌圭回忆道，“那次出差帮助我确定了加盟三星（击败日本的）目标。”

In fact, he faced tougher challenges after Samsung overtook Japanese rivals in the D-Ram chip business. “Once our technology surpassed that of Japanese companies, it felt daunting,” he says. “But I was convinced somehow that we were moving past the PC era into a mobile one, where demand for graphics or video clips would sharply increase. So I focused on developing flash memory chips, betting that they would spark the mobile big bang.”

实际上，在三星在动态Ram芯片业务方面超越日本竞争对手后，他面临着更为严峻的挑战。“一旦我们的技术超过日本企业，我们感觉未来的任务十分艰巨，”他表示，“但我在内心深处确信，我们正从个人电脑时代进入移动时代，人们对图形或视频短片的需求将大大增加。因此我聚焦于开发闪存芯片，相信它们将引发移动设备的大爆炸。”

His predictions turned out to be true. However, not all of KT’s unionised workers feel he has so far lived up to his fame. Some industry watchers also suggest key projects, such as the “Gigatopia” bid to make the internet 10 times faster, are against the current global IT trend focusing on mobile phones.

事实证明，他的预测是对的。不过，在加入工会的韩国电信员工中，并非所有人都认为他迄今不负盛名。一些行业观察人士也表示，一些关键项目，例如旨在让互联网速度提高10倍的GiGAtopia项目，与当前全球IT行业关注移动手机的趋势不符。

Mr Hwang was paid about Won600m (£367,000) last year including bonuses, significantly less than local telecoms rivals and his predecessor at KT. He acknowledges the difficulties of running a provider of services such as KT rather than a manufacturer such as Samsung.

去年，黄昌圭共计获得6亿韩元（合36.7万英镑）左右的薪酬（包括奖金在内），远远低于本国电信业竞争对手和他在韩国电信的前任。他承认，与管理三星等制造商相比，管理韩国电信这种服务提供商存在难度。

South Korea’s service sector remains under-developed, with low productivity and little presence overseas. “In manufacturing, if you come up with a quality product, that’s it. But offering a service requires a more emotional approach, with broader perspectives and details to impress customers. ”

韩国服务业仍不发达，生产率较低，在海外几乎没有足迹。“在制造业，只要生产出高质量的产品就行了。但提供服务需要采取一种更感性的方法，需要更广阔的视角，需要用细节来打动客户。”

For KT, privatised in 2002, developing a longer-term growth strategy is further complicated by regulation and political interference. Mr Hwang stays silent about such sensitive issues, admitting they are beyond his control because KT cannot ignore its public role, but he remains optimistic about the company’s future, with a vision based on “advanced technologies and efficient management”.

对于在2002年被私有化的韩国电信，监管和政治干预加剧了拟定较长期增长战略的复杂性。黄昌圭在这些敏感问题上保持沉默，承认这些问题不在他的控制范围之内，因为韩国电信无法忽视其公共角色，但他仍对公司的未来表示乐观，他的愿景基于“先进技术和高效管理”。

But Hwang Young-key, his close friend and former president of Samsung Securities, says his KT role is very different to running the semiconductor business at Samsung, where thorny issues could be handled by the group’s central functions. “At KT, he has to meet various people from government officials to labour union members and has to solve many difficult issues alone. It must be quite challenging for him.”

但他的亲密朋友、三星证券(Samsung Securities)前总裁黄永基(Hwang Young-key)表示，他在韩国电信的任务与管理三星半导体业务截然不同；在三星，棘手的事务可以由集团总部的职能部门处理。“在韩国电信，他不得不与形形色色的人会面，从政府官员到工会成员，而且还不得不亲自解决很多难题。对他而言，这肯定非常具有挑战性。”