US firms suspend CES events over omicron spread, business as usual for Korean tech industry

South Korean technology giants’ plan to attend CES 2022 remains unperturbed so far, despite a series of announcements by US firms that they are suspending in-person events due to concerns about the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19. Among notable exhibitors based in Korea -- Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor, SK and Doosan -- none of them has yet to announce a withdrawal of an earlier plan to attend the world’s biggest consumer electronics show. There was also no talk yet about s

Dec. 24, 2021

Who will take the lead? Naver, Kakao to enter digital health care market

The competition is heating up between two South Korean tech giants, Naver and Kakao, to enter the emerging digital health care market worth an estimated 320 trillion won ($270 billion) and growing using artificial intelligence, market insiders said Friday. According to Naver, it plans to build an in-house “smart hospital” supported by AI in its new headquarters next year. Attending to some 4,300 employees, the medical staff will use its AI technology Naver Clova to keep medical re

Dec. 24, 2021

Amazon Prime Video joins Samsung-led 8K Association

Amazon Prime Video, a subscription-based video streaming service run by Amazon, joined cross-industry group 8K Association earlier in December, Samsung Electronics said Friday. Samsung Electronics, one of the founding members of the 8K Association, said in a statement that Amazon Prime Video’s entry raises the anticipations for the 8K ecosystem’s growth momentum, in addition to Google that joined the group in May this year. 8K refers to a set of high-performance standards that of

Dec. 24, 2021

Huawei looks to empower low-carbon ICT

Huawei Technologies‘ low-carbon projects across the world and its climate-related track record are now in the spotlight, amid growing regulatory hurdles and customer demand regarding green technologies in South Korea. Introducing its technologies to promote clean energy at a recent press conference held in Seoul, Karl Song, vice president of Huawei’s corporate communications department, said the company is ready to play a role in empowering its Korean partners‘ pursuit of low-

Dec. 23, 2021

S. Korea begins trial run of hydrogen heavy duty trucks

A trial run of hydrogen-powered heavy duty trucks kicked off Thursday as part of South Korea's broader efforts for a shift to eco-friendly vehicles in line with the carbon emission cut initiative. Five 11-ton fuel cell trucks, including Hyundai Motor Co's Xcient, will run on roads in the Seoul metropolitan area and the southern region for the next 12 months, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a release. Two logistics companies -- CJ Logistics Corp., Hyundai Glovis Co. -

Dec. 23, 2021

Will Oppo’s foldable challenge Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold?

Chinese smartphone brand Oppo’s Find N, the first flagship foldable phone unveiled the previous week, suggests how premium electronic gadget fans have been thirsty for a seamless end-user experience. With Find N, Oppo is looking to prove that consumers can find a foldable phone attractive with creaseless inner screens. But it is unlikely that Oppo’s release would directly challenge Samsung’s leadership in the market, especially since it already has a similar foldable phone, th

Dec. 22, 2021

CEO war heats up among big three battery makers

The latest battlefield for the nation’s top three battery makers -- LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On -- is their new leaderships. High-profile executives, including a chaebol scion, have stepped in to nurture the battery-making units of LG, Samsung and SK as new growth engines. The Korean trio has seen a surge in battery output capacity this year amid soaring demand for electric vehicles around the world, especially in the all-important US market. Their market share reached

Dec. 22, 2021

Korea to provide 10 times faster Wi-Fi in subways for free

Starting next year, subway passengers in South Korea will be able to enjoy free Wi-Fi services that are 10 times faster, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday. According to the ministry, subway commuters will be able to use Wi-Fi 6E that has a more reliable internet connection, and is 10 times faster than the current Wi-Fi speed. The upgraded Wi-Fi speed will be on par with that of private telecoms networks. Previously, the ministry had limited the transmitted signal power level in su

Dec. 21, 2021

LG’s wireless StanbyME TV to hit Asia

LG Electronics announced Tuesday it plans to release its wireless StanbyME televisions in the Asian market starting this month and heightened its production capacity by threefold to meet demand overseas. Hong Kong will be the first Asian market for LG to set its sights on, according to the electronics arm of South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate. Sales of the movable 27-inch TVs, powered by built-in batteries that last for three hours on a single charge, will begin within December

Dec. 21, 2021

Samsung takes over Intel as top chipmaker by revenue: report

Samsung Electronics Co. took over the top spot in the global semiconductor market by revenue in the third quarter, a report showed Tuesday, on the back of strong memory chip sales. Industry tracker Omdia said Intel, which had been the top chipmaker for 11 straight quarters, slipped to number two behind Samsung "as the memory segment, where Samsung is the number one DRAM and NAND supplier, was the largest growth area for semiconductor" in the three months ending in September. DRAM, o

Dec. 21, 2021

Kakao Brain’s AI models ‘more practical’ than Naver, says CEO

Kim Il-du, CEO of Kakao Brain, the artificial intelligence technology research and development subsidiary of Kakao, said Monday its supergiant AI models are more practical than Naver’s, amid growing competition between the two tech giants over leadership in the AI business in Korea. “Although Kakao Brain’s Korean-language AI model KoGPT contains less parameters than Naver’s, it is just the size to give fast and real-time feedback to the users,” Kim said during an o

Dec. 20, 2021

LG teases new UltraGear gaming laptop, eyes Korea release in Dec.

LG Electronics said Monday it is looking to release its newest LG UltraGear laptop for 2022 -- a high-performance model designed for gamers -- within December in Korea. The laptop features a 17.3-inch monitor with a 1080p display resolution, using an in-place switching panel of 300-hertz refresh rate, as well as DTS: X Ultra system for multidimensional sound, in order to deliver a more immersive gaming experience, according to the company. It is powered by Intel‘s 11th-generation Tiger

Dec. 20, 2021

Samsung’s new China team signals strategy reboot

Samsung Electronics has reportedly launched a new China team under the direct supervision of vice chairman and Chief Executive Officer Han Jong-hee, signaling a change in its strategy to reenter Asia’s largest market that is already dominated by homegrown manufacturers. According to media reports, Samsung Electronics has kicked off a new operation, loosely translated as the China Business Innovation Team. The unit is dedicated to businesses ranging from mobile handsets to semico

Dec. 19, 2021

Samsung rolls out chips for self-driving cars

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has begun mass-producing cutting-edge memory chips for an undisclosed auto manufacturer to power a range of connected features including autonomous driving. The newest lineup of chips includes 2-gigabyte GDDR6 graphic dynamic random access memory chips, as well as 128-gigabyte universal flash storage. Both products are designed to support autonomous driving features, including advanced driver assistance systems. Samsung unveiled the industry‘s first u

Dec. 16, 2021

Once-popular Cyworld aims to revive past glory with metaverse

Long before the metaverse and cryptocurrency craze, South Korea had Cyworld, the microblogging platform where people used “dotori” digital money to decorate their personal avatars. It didn’t just exist. It was rabidly popular, counting 32 million users out of the country’s population of 50 million at one point. The once-mighty homegrown platform, however, became a relic of the past with the rise of Facebook, Twitter and the like. It suffered a similar fate to MySpace

Dec. 16, 2021

New tech by IBM, Samsung may allow phone battery to last for a week

A new breakthrough in semiconductor design jointly developed by global tech giants IBM and Samsung Electronics could allow phone batteries to hold a charge for a week, according to the companies on Wednesday. This architecture -- which, in essence, is to align transistors vertically on a semiconductor chip -- has the potential to reduce energy usage by 85 percent compared to a conventional scaled fin field-effect transistor by allowing greater current flow with less wasted energy, IBM said. I

Dec. 15, 2021

LG Chem, LG Energy Solution acquire W60b stake in Canada’s Li-Cycle

LG Group’s chemicals and battery units, LG Chem and LG Energy Solution, said Wednesday that they had acquired a 2.6 percent stake in Canadian battery recycling company Li-Cycle Holdings by investing 30 billion won ($25.3 million) each. Li-Cycle, based in Toronto, operates North America’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling facility. The firm recycles waste from the EV battery manufacturing process and recovers battery metals for reuse. The Canadian firm recently issued new shar

Dec. 15, 2021

SK chairman appears in antitrust session to defend stock purchase

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won made a rare appearance in a session held by the nation’s top antitrust watchdog to defend his controversial stock purchase in 2017, when SK acquired a silicon wafer unit from its crosstown rival LG Group.  The Fair Trade Commission has reviewed the case over allegations that SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, deliberately helped its chairman purchase the stock at a cheaper price to benefit from hefty dividends.  The deliberation session was

Dec. 15, 2021

Race for next-gen DRAM chips heats up with SK hynix’s new release

The race for next-generation DDR5 memory chips is intensifying, with SK hynix unloading its latest chip featuring an enhanced density enough to boost performance of cloud data centers and potentially of high-performance servers. SK hynix said Wednesday it has shipped samples of 24-gigabit DDR5 dynamic random access memory chips, touting its technology leadership in commercializing a single DRAM chip that has the largest density in the industry. DDR5, or double data rate 5, refers to a newest it

Dec. 15, 2021

Kakao Brain unveils image-generating AI model

Kakao Brain, the artificial intelligence technology research and development subsidiary of Kakao, said Wednesday it has launched its second AI model that self-generates images, allowing the company to quickly expand its presence in Korea’s mammoth AI space. The AI model, dubbed “minDALL-E,” creates images the users wish to see, according to the company. For instance, when users type in requests such as “draw a picture in a Salvador Dali style” or “create an

Dec. 15, 2021