LG Chem announced Thursday its first joint venture with China’s No. 1 automaker Geely Auto Group for the production of electric vehicle batteries, with a plan to secure capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours by late 2021. The South Korean battery manufacturer said it signed a contract with the Chinese automaker on the establishment of the joint venture, with an equal amount of financial investments from each company, at Geely’s research center in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on Wednesday. Under

Technology June 13, 2019

LG Corp., the holding company of South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, is continuing to streamline the group’s business portfolio by selling its stake in multiple affiliates in order to focus on future businesses, according to industry sources Wednesday. As part of the plan, the company is preparing to sell over 35 percent stake in LG CNS, an IT software development affiliate in which it owns 85 percent shares. Although LG Corp. said the sell-off is still under consideration, JP

Technology June 12, 2019

South Korean battery manufacturers on Tuesday expressed optimism after receiving government approval to resume business in the area of energy storage systems, after being forced to suspend it due to a probe into a series of fires at 23 ESS facilities. After suffering losses in the first quarter of this year largely because of delayed supplies, the country’s two major ESS providers, Samsung SDI and LG Chem, are expected to resume business in the second half of the year in hopes of recoverin

Technology June 11, 2019

On the heels of a lawsuit filed by LG Chem in the United States, SK Innovation sued its South Korean competitor for defamation in a local court, claiming 1 billion won in damages in a new chapter in the ongoing legal battle. The country’s top energy business and newcomer to the lithium-ion battery market said Monday that it could no longer endure “groundless accusations” brought against it by rival LG Chem. LG Chem, in response, said it feels “regret” over SK Innova

Technology June 10, 2019

South Korea’s tech giants including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are increasingly on edge over the ongoing economic brinkmanship between the United States and China, in light of a reported warning from Beijing not to cooperate with the Trump administration’s China ban, according to industry sources Sunday. “We will need to step up monitoring on the issue,” said an official from one of the major companies based in Seoul. “Companies here will watch the situation c

Technology June 9, 2019

Samsung Electronics will further downsize its ailing smartphone business in China while seeking to expand growth in India, according to the industry on Wednesday. The world’s top smartphone vendor is reducing the workforce of its only mobile device factory in Huizhou, Guangdong province, reported Chinese English-language media outlet Caixin.The size of the reduction has not been confirmed, though the Chinese report said layoffs are being carried out on a voluntary basis, with employee

Technology June 5, 2019

A new technology partnership has been formed between South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and the United States’ AMD on low-power and high-performance mobile graphics, according to the companies Tuesday. Under the multiyear partnership, Samsung Electronics will license AMD’s graphics intellectual property, based on the recently announced, highly-scalable Radeon graphics architecture, for use in its mobile devices including smartphones. Samsung will pay AMD license fees and royalti

Technology June 4, 2019

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it has embarked on initial research on the sixth-generation telecommunications network by launching a new research center. Samsung recently formed the Advanced Communications Research Center under Samsung Research, the company’s main R&D organization, based in southern Seoul. The tech giant has expanded the existing telecommunications research team to the level of a center after the launch of fifth-generation technologies.  “The current team

Technology June 4, 2019

Samsung Electronics’ Consumer Electronics CEO Kim Hyun-suk said Tuesday that the company will launch the Galaxy Home speaker in the third quarter of this year. “The Galaxy Home speaker, which will be the center of Samsung’s home appliances, is planned to be launched in mid-second half of the year,” Kim told The Korea Herald in response to a question. Kim answered the question after a press conference held to unveil Samsung’s new lifestyle-focused vision for consumer

Technology June 4, 2019

Understanding the latest circumstances as a “new crisis” phase for Samsung Electronics, the top conglomerate in Korea appears to be seeking measures to tackle a series of challenges looming large over the tech giant, according to industry sources Monday. The sense of urgency within Samsung has been felt across the business community, as recent remarks made by Vice Chairman and heir apparent Lee Jae-yong went public. On Saturday, Lee appeared in the lobby of Samsung’s semiconduc

Technology June 3, 2019

South Korea’s largest alcoholic beverage provider Oriental Brewery expressed its support for the Seoul Queer Culture Festival which starts Saturday and sexual minorities, according to the company’s social network accounts on Friday.On its official Twitter account, the company posted an image of a rainbow-colored Cass can with a message that read, “(The company) supports your color, YASS!” with hashtags such as “#queer festival.” It also said the company sends

Industry May 31, 2019

Two new duty-free shops opened at the arrival terminals for passengers landing at Incheon International Airport at 2 p.m. on Friday.SM Duty Free started operations of two stores on the first floor of Terminal 1, while Entas Duty Free opened a single store on the first floor of Terminal 2, near the baggage claim areas of each terminal, according to Korea Customs Service and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.“The launch of on-arrival duty free shops is a good example of the Moon Jae-in gov

Industry May 31, 2019

The United States International Trade Commission on Thursday announced its decision to institute an investigation into a complaint filed by South Korea’s LG Chem against its domestic rival SK Innovation over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets involving lithium-ion battery technologies. The decision highlights the rivalry among three Korean battery makers, including Samsung SDI. Competition has grown fiercer in the past couple of years, as the global electric vehicle market is set to

Technology May 30, 2019

LG Electronics said Thursday it has completed its new plant for washing machines in Tennessee, the United States, and will start producing 1.2 million washers annually for the American market.The South Korean electronics manufacturer held a ceremony to mark the completion in Clarksville, Tennessee, attended by US Rep. Mark Green, State Gov. Bill Lee, Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett, Clarksville City Mayor Joe Pitts and other Korean government officials. LG will move forward to December full

Technology May 30, 2019

LG Electronics’ V50 ThinQ is leading the 5G smartphone market in South Korea with high popularity for the dual screen phone’s powerful multimedia features, the company said Wednesday.An initial volume of 100,000 V50 ThinQ phones were sold out since the device’s launch on May 10, and sales are continuing to rise, it said.Instead of a foldable screen smartphone, LG chose to offer a flip-cover dual display form factor for more powerful multimedia experiences on the high-speed netw

Technology May 29, 2019