Samsung to invest additional $8b in China memory plant: report

Samsung Electronics will make an additional $8 billion investment in its memory plant in Xian, China, in a preemptive response to the projected growth of memory chip demand, according to news reports Friday. A Chinese media outlet reported that Samsung has officially decided to execute the investment for the Xian plant. Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul, however, declined to confirm the investment plan. According to the report, the decision was revealed Tuesday during a meeting between an ex

Dec. 13, 2019

Samsung halts planning for 2020 amid legal risks

No one is sure who the top brass of Samsung Electronics will be next year as the company is silent about its annual organizational reshuffle amid ongoing multiple trials involving key executives, according to industry sources Thursday. The South Korean tech giant usually appoints its top executives in early December and personnel shake-up across all affiliates by mid-December. But this year, neither its leadership nor its business divisions have made personnel announcements, making it harder for

Dec. 12, 2019

QLED-equipped Galaxy laptops to hit market

Samsung Electronics will start receiving preorders for the world’s first QLED display-equipped laptops in collaboration with Intel, from Friday.Presales for the Galaxy Book Flex and Galaxy Book Ion will take place online from Friday through Thursday ahead of their official launch Dec. 20. Unveiled at the Samsung Developer Conference in October, the Galaxy Book Flex and Galaxy Book Ion feature the world’s first QLED display on a laptop. Equipped with Samsung’s proprietary QLED d

Dec. 12, 2019

Strategic approaches on system chip discussed at private-public forum

Taking a step further into the non-memory market, officials from South Korea’s industry-leading companies gathered on Wednesday to discuss their approaches to the government-led initiative to boost the system-on-chip industry.Hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the seminar was held to promote cooperation among semiconductor manufacturers, fabless firms and customers from different industries on development of new SoC products and solutions as a follow-up measure of the na

Dec. 11, 2019

Samsung emerges as No. 3 vendor of wearable devices in Q3: report

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's top electronics manufacturer, was the third-largest vendor of wearable devices in the third quarter of the year, a market report showed Wednesday, amid soaring global demand for wearables. Samsung shipped 8.3 million units of wearable devices in the July-September period, more than doubling from a year earlier, according to the latest report from market tracker International Data Corp. The tech giant emerged as the No. 3 player in the global wearables marke

Dec. 11, 2019

Samsung's foundry biz to grow 19% on-year in Q4: report

Samsung Electronics is expected to see 19 percent on-year growth in its foundry business in the fourth quarter of the year, a market report showed Tuesday, though the performance will not be enough to narrow the market share gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.  Samsung's foundry business was projected to log $3.4 billion in revenue in the October-December period, up 19.3 percent from a year earlier, according to market tracker TrendForce. Foundry r

Dec. 10, 2019

LG rolls out 8K OLED TV in Japan ahead of Tokyo Olympics

LG Electronics said Tuesday it has kicked off sales of 8K organic light-emitting diode TVs in Japan, a market that is receptive to OLED TVs, ahead of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.The South Korean TV maker has displayed the LG Signature OLED 8K model at flagship retailers across Japan. Due to the preference for OLED TVs in Japan, OLED TVs accounted for 20 percent of the country’s TV sales this year, far larger than OLED TVs’ global market share at 6 percent.  Amid the growing inte

Dec. 10, 2019

SK Telecom launches 5G autonomous platform for vessels

SK Telecom announced Tuesday the mobile carrier has established an autonomous sailing platform for vessels based on its 5G network in collaboration with Samsung Heavy Industries, expanding the concept of autonomous operation to ships. The telecom company worked with Samsung’s shipbuilding unit at its shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province. Using the SKT 5G network established at the shipyard, the mobile carrier tested its autonomous and remote control platform connected to 3.3-meter-

Dec. 10, 2019

‘Time is ticking for action on antimicrobial resistance’

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Korea is hosting an international meeting to fight the rising public health threat of drug resistance.The seventh session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission task force on antimicrobial resistance kicked off Monday in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, to be held for five days through Friday.In 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted a global action plan to tackle the trend of antimicrobial resistance. The international food standards body Codex launched the task fo

Dec. 9, 2019

Samsung supplies super-size smart LED signage for MSC Grandiosa

Samsung Electronics announced Monday that the company had supplied super-large smart LED signage and interactive touchscreens for MSC Cruises’ flagship Grandiosa, based in Geneva, Switzerland. A 93-meter-long curved LED display is installed on the ceiling of the global cruise liner’s indoor promenade, its central social hub, providing visual arts at all times at a resolution of 1,700 nits. The display also showcases visual performances three times a day.The Grandiosa is the world&rsq

Dec. 9, 2019

SKT, Statistics Korea unveil foot traffic map

SK Telecom and Statistics Korea said Monday they have started the pilot service of a foot traffic map using the telecom company’s mobile big data technology. The map measures foot traffic across the country by using big data collected from SKT’s mobile network stations. It shows the inflow and outflow of people in a particular area, and data can be rearranged according to weekdays, weekends or months. The mobile big data technology is expected to help save costs and labor needed for

Dec. 9, 2019

[News Focus] LG Chem, GM deal ups ante in EV battery competition

The Friday announcement for a joint venture between South Korean battery maker LG Chem and US carmaker General Motors has upped the ante in the global competition to secure lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, according to industry sources on Sunday. The 2.7 trillion won ($2.3 billion) joint venture for an EV battery factory with production capacity of over 30 gigawatt hours per year in Lordstown, Ohio, was clinched amid GM’s ongoing transition from combustion engine cars to electr

Dec. 8, 2019

Samsung marches ahead of rivals with 71% smartphone market share

 Samsung Electronics took a 71 percent share in the South Korean smartphone market in the third quarter, outstripping its rivals Apple and LG Electronics, a report showed Thursday. According to market tracker Counterpoint Research, the tech giant’s market share grew 67 percent on-year. Its crosstown rival LG Electronics saw its share unchanged at 17 percent, the data showed, although the company has witnessed a steady growth in the sales of its latest V50 ThinQ 5G model. Samsung&rsquo

Dec. 5, 2019

S. Korea unveils world's first geostationary air pollution monitoring satellite

South Korea on Thursday unveiled the world's first geostationary environmental monitoring satellite that can closely check the movement of fine dust and other air pollutants in the East Asian region in real time.The 3.4-ton Chollian-2B, scheduled to be sent into orbit from French Guiana in February 2020, will take up a fixed position 36,000 kilometers above the Earth's equator, the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute said.The multipurpose satellite's Geostationary Environmental Monitori

Dec. 5, 2019

Samsung overwhelms LG, Apple in local smartphone market share

Samsung Electronics dominated the South Korean market for smartphones in the third quarter, widening the gap with local competitor LG Electronics, as well as that with Apple of the United States, industry data showed Wednesday.Also, Samsung took seven spots in the list of the top 10 best-selling smartphones, according to the data from market research firm Counterpoint Research. In the July-September period, Samsung's smartphones posted a combined market share of 71 percent, up 3 percentage point

Dec. 4, 2019

Samsung heir to meet Sweden’s biggest biz tycoon Wallenberg

De facto Samsung Electronics leader Lee Jae-yong is expected to meet with the owner of largest Swedish business group Wallenberg later this month, according to news reports Wednesday. Lee will reportedly hold a meeting with Chairman Marcus Wallenberg, who is scheduled to come to Seoul on Dec. 18 as part of a business delegation accompanying the Swedish prime minister’s visit to the country. A business summit that promotes Korean businesses’ investments in Sweden will be held at a hot

Dec. 4, 2019

Samsung likely to hide hinge in Galaxy Fold 2

Samsung Electronics appears to be working on hiding the hinge component in the second edition of Galaxy Fold that is expected to be launched next August, according to industry sources Wednesday. The South Korean tech giant has trademarked a patent for something called “Hideaway Hinge” with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, according to online outlet LetsGo Digital based in the Netherlands. The trademark application was filed Monday. The description suggests the new des

Dec. 4, 2019

Scientists restore indigenous dog breed

A cloned dog of a native breed close to extinction, the Sapsaree, gave birth to puppies last year, and one of them became pregnant recently. According to professor Kim Min-kyu of Chungnam National University -- whose team conducted the genetic experiment -- on Tuesday, the cloned Sapsaree gave birth to seven puppies through artificial insemination last December. Two of the seven pups were short-haired.The cloned dog had its genes reproduced from a male short-haired badugi (meaning “spotted

Dec. 3, 2019

LG vs. Samsung TV spat spreads worldwide

LG Electronics seems to be taking the spat with Samsung Electronics over picture quality of 8K TVs to the global level by mobilizing its overseas offices, according to industry sources Tuesday. The company’s US branch recently uploaded a video commercial on its YouTube channel that once again explains why organic light-emitting diode TV technology is superior to its crosstown rival’s quantum dot light-emitting diode TVs. The same version was aired in South Korea in September. The adv

Dec. 3, 2019

More foldable devices expected to hit market in 2020

New variants of foldable smartphones are expected to hit the market next year, expanding the foldable segment upon rising demand for larger screens, according to industry sources Monday. At least two new foldable models are likely to be launched by Samsung Electronics next year, while there are rumors that LG Electronics could debut its first foldable phone. One of the new Samsung foldable phones will be a clamshell-type device that folds vertically, while the other is likely to be an upgraded v

Dec. 2, 2019