Samsung to pay up to 100% bonuses for semiconductor division employees

Samsung Electronics will provide 100 percent performance-based bonuses to the employees of the semiconductor division next week, industry sources said Friday. The world’s biggest memory chip provider is planning to give its workers a half-year bonus, dubbed “target achievement incentives” based on their performances, which could be a maximum of 100 percent of their monthly salary. While the employees of the chipmaking unit are reportedly said to receive bonuses that are eq

July 3, 2020

Can Korean chipmakers bet on NAND flash in H2?

After benefiting from the growing non-contact market in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in the first six months of this year, chipmakers are again faced with a bearish outlook for the remaining half of the year due to estimated falls in chip prices. In the third quarter, there are predominant forecasts that say the prices of both DRAM and NAND flashes will decline, leading to a slower growth of the overall memory market. According to market tracker DRAMeXchange, the fixed price of DDR4 8

July 3, 2020

Korean expert discovers way to ramp up chip storage capacity 1,000 times

A South Korean research team has discovered a way to ramp up the storage capacity of memory chips by 1,000 times, while raising the possibility of utilizing 0.5 nanometer process technology, the Ministry of Science on ICT announced Thursday. Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology’s Energy and Chemical Engineering professor Lee Jun-hee and his team have published a report on the discovery to international academic journal Science, winning attention from peers and the semicond

July 3, 2020

KT CEO stresses importance of advancing 5G network in different industries

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo stressed that the fifth-generation network would allow telecommunication firms to create new business opportunities across various industries, the company said Thursday. “If the telecommunications firms used to center on business-to-consumer services in the past, the industry will be involved more in the business-to-business sector in the future,” KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo said in a keynote speech during the Global TD-LTE Initiative’s online summit on Wednesday.

July 2, 2020

SK hynix rolls out industry’s fastest DRAM solution for AI

SK hynix announced Thursday it has started mass producing the industry’s fastest DRAM solution HBM2E, 10 months after the chipmaker completed its development in August last year. According to the company, the HBM2E supports over 460 gigabytes per second with 1,024 inputs/outputs based on the 3.6 gigabit-per-second performance of each pin. It is the fastest DRAM solution in the industry, which enables transmission of 124 full-HD movies (3.7GB each) per second. The density is 16GB, mor

July 2, 2020

Samsung to hire 1,000-strong chip, AI manpower this year

Samsung Electronics plans to hire as many as 1,000 specialized experts in chip design and artificial intelligence by the end of this year, the tech giant said Wednesday. The company has already employed around 500 experts with master’s degrees and doctorates in semiconductors and AI in the first six months of the year, as part of its preparations for future technologies and businesses. It is planning to hire 500 more experts as part of accelerating a move towards the future, amid grow

July 1, 2020

S. Korea begins using remdesivir to treat COVID-19

Korean health authorities said Wednesday that stocks of remdesivir, an experimental antiviral once seen as a potential Ebola therapy, will be supplied to local hospitals for treating COVID-19. In a press release, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the use of remdesivir will be limited to seriously ill patients in need of oxygen therapy. More specifically, patients with chest scans showing signs of pneumonia and oxygen saturation of 94 percent or lower are eligible for th

July 1, 2020

Samsung introduces new solid state drive with 8TB capacity

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday introduced its new solid state drive (SSD) product with an industry-leading capacity of up to 8 terabytes (TB). The world's largest memory chip producer said its second generation quad-level cell flash drive, the 870 QVO SATA SSD, will go on sale in 40 countries, starting in South Korea and the United States. SSD is a storage device for computing products that leverages NAND flash chips to provide non-volatile and rewritable memory, replacing hard disk d

July 1, 2020

Monthly increase in 5G subscribers reaches record high in May: data

The number of new 5G subscribers rose by a record high in May for this year, with total network users reaching just under 6.9 million, official data showed Tuesday. The latest findings showed 5G subscribers increasing by 536,997 in May compared to the month before, exceeding the previous monthly record of 520,478 reported in March, the Ministry of Science and ICT said. The overall number of 5G users stood at over 6.87 million, just 14 months after the country adopted the ultrahigh speed telec

June 30, 2020

KT introduces smart factory robotic solution

KT announced Tuesday that it has introduced automated robotic solutions at a local auto parts manufacturer’s factory. The South Korean telecom firm’s smart factory robot Cobot has been installed at a facility of Parkwon -- a manufacturer of steel balls for steering and power transmission systems -- in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province. The system can help in handling loading, packaging and other repetitive work procedures that are physically taxing, often causing injuries, acc

June 30, 2020

Samsung heir extends attention to equipment business

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday visited Samsung’s semiconductor equipment subsidiary SEMES, surveying the very foundation of the chip industry amid the country’s ongoing efforts to reduce dependence on Japan. The Samsung heir discussed mid- and long-term strategies of SMES, founded in 1993 as a subsidiary building manufacturing equipment for semiconductor sand displays, and took a tour of the equipment production line located in Cheonan, South Chungcheon

June 30, 2020

SK hynix to support 3 new partners for chip industry’s localization

Amid growing efforts to reinforce the domestic chip materials, parts and equipment industry by relying less on Japanese imports, South Korean chipmaker SK hynix said Tuesday it will support three new partner firms and co-develop products for the next two years. The memory chip manufacturer said it has selected Semics, LKN and Evertech Enterprise as innovative tech firms and has signed agreements at its headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. “Despite the difficulty that we are end

June 30, 2020

Government opens chip design center for local fabless companies

South Korea‘s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday launched an innovation center aimed to support local fabless companies and system semiconductor developers. The newly opened semiconductor center, located in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, will function as a base that nurtures capabilities of chip design companies, known as fabless, the ministry said. It was a follow-up measure of the government-led plan to foster the logic chip industry where Korean chipmakers have not bee

June 29, 2020

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June 29, 2020

[Gadget Review] Dyson Corrale straightener is quick, hot but heavy

As most of my naturally-curly-haired peers would agree, there is nothing more annoying than coiled bangs. They make you look less composed and childish, not to mention adding a few pounds to your face. So I jumped at the chance to try out Dyson Corrale straightener, the latest hot item from the cordless masters. Almost immediately, I found it extremely convenient to use during busy mornings to fix by bangs, without having time to wash and dry my hair. The gadget is usually placed on the cha

June 29, 2020

US cloud computing solution firm to strengthen ties with Samsung, expand business in Korea

Rescale, San Francisco-based company specializing in high performance computing applications for cloud systems, said Monday that the company will beef up efforts to expand operations in Korea, including increasing cooperation with the country‘s largest tech giant Samsung Electronics. Rescale entered the Korean market last year. The company currently has several Korean customers that use different types of cloud computing solutions, including LS Electric, Hyundai Electric and Energy and

June 29, 2020

Korean tech giants to report improved earnings in Q2

The latest forecasts about Korean technology companies’ profits in the second quarter suggest they have at least avoided the worst-case scenario amid the protracting COVID-19 pandemic, due to the semiconductor industry’s outperformance, according to industry sources on Sunday. The newest figures released by local stock brokerages show that Samsung Electronics is estimated to report around 53.6 trillion won ($44.5 billion) in sales and 6.4 trillion won in operating profit for the A

June 28, 2020

Weighty toll of staying at home to avoid coronavirus

Park Seung-yun, a 28-year-old Seoulite, is one of many victims of “quarantine weight gain.” He was fortunate enough to work in a job where telecommuting was possible, but that has not been great as far as his waistline is concerned. “My waist measurement has grown by 2 inches (5 centimeters), forcing me to overhaul my wardrobe. Before the pandemic, I was size M or L depending on the brand. Now, I’m having to get XLs,” he said. Since he no longer had to commute, h

June 28, 2020

Samsung to launch 2 foldable smartphones in H2: sources

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to launch two new foldable smartphones in the second half of the year, with an affordable foldable handset model likely to come out next year, industry sources said Sunday. Samsung is projected to unveil the Galaxy Fold 2 and the 5G variant of the Galaxy Z Flip at an event in August, along with its flagship phablet Galaxy Note 20 series, according to the sources. But its affordable foldable smartphone, presumably named the Galaxy Fold Lite, is not likely t

June 28, 2020

Mobile carriers tipped to deliver robust Q2 earnings on expanded 5G presence: poll

South Korea's major mobile carriers are expected to report improved bottom lines in the second quarter on the back of a rise in subscribers to 5G network services amid the pandemic, analysts said Saturday. The combined net profits of the country's three major carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- are estimated at 711 billion won ($591 million) in the April-June period, compared with 561 billion won from the previous year, according to a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financia

June 27, 2020