Samsung Electronics CEO Kwon Oh-hyun’s resignation will inevitably impact the semiconductor business of the world’s largest memory chip provider in the short run, industry watchers said at a semiconductor tradeshow Tuesday. “It is unfortunate, since he has done a good job to build the company,” said Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst at IHS Markit. “His resignation would impact the company in the short term, but I don’t think Samsung will fall from the No. 1 position to (say) No.5.” He also

Technology Oct. 17, 2017

(Samsung Electronics Newsroom)The Samsung Developer Conference scheduled for this Wednesday in San Francisco is drawing more attention than ever from industry observers with questions about how the hardware-oriented tech titan will break through current technological limits in the face of a sudden leadership change. This will be also the first major global event for the tech giant since its Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun announced his surprise resignation Friday, citing the firm’s need to break from

Technology Oct. 16, 2017

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu (right) and SpaceX Chairman Elon Musk hold hands after a talk on co-launching the Mugunghwa 5A satellite later this month at the headquarters of SpaceX in Hawthorne, California on Thursday. KT announced Sunday the Korean mobile carrier and the US spacecraft builder will further cooperate on advancing autonomous driving and energy-related technologies. (KT)

Technology Oct. 15, 2017

Google has adopted a fingerprint recognition module exclusively developed by CrucialTec based in South Korea for its upcoming Pixel 2 smartphone series, according to sources on Sunday. “CrucialTec is preparing to supply its fingerprint solution Biometric TrackPad for Google’s Pixel 2 series,” a source told The Korea Herald. “The Korean company has been a major supplier for past Google phones from the Nexus series to the predecessor Pixel 1.”CrucialTec is a biometric solution developer that was t

Technology Oct. 15, 2017

Lawmakers urged the Ministry of Science and ICT to fully implement a blacklist system for mobile devices as a measure to further cut mobile bills during a parliamentary audit on the ministry Thursday, Ruling and opposition lawmakers discussed the reasons behind the heavy burden of mobile costs for households and called for government measures to ease the burden by expanding the blacklist system for mobile devices during the audit at Gwacheon Government Complex in Gyeonggi Province.  (Yonhap)Rep.

Technology Oct. 12, 2017

Ahead of third-quarter earnings announcements later this month, South Korean memory chipmakers reached new highs in their stock value Wednesday on expectations of the companies’ largest profits due to the continuing memory chip boom. Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest memory chip provider, surpassed 2.7 million won ($2,377.6) per share around noon, due to a strong buying spree by foreign investors, two days before the company was set to release preliminary earnings. It was the first time f

Technology Oct. 11, 2017

The average price of a smartphone sold in South Korea is higher compared to other countries resulting in Koreans suffering from high mobile costs, a lawmaker argued Tuesday, citing a Gartner survey on premium smartphones sold around the world.Rep. Byun Jae-ill of the ruling Minjoo Party of Korea said installment payments for handsets have taken up a growing portion of households’ monthly mobile costs. According to a recent survey by Gartner, the average selling price of handsets stood at $514 in

Technology Oct. 10, 2017

LG Electronics announced Tuesday it posted 82.2 percent growth in operating profit for the third quarter of this year compared to a year earlier. According to the smartphone and home appliance maker’s preliminary earnings, it recorded a 15.2 percent increase to reach 15.23 trillion won ($ 13.4 billion) in consolidated sales during the July-September period compared to the same period last year. Its operating profit climbed 82.2 percent to reach 516.1 billion won during the period.  Models introd

Technology Oct. 10, 2017

Following the lifting of an upper cap on smartphone subsidies provided by mobile carriers effective as of Monday, the amount of grants offered by the firms and handset makers have started to rise, although just gradually, according to the telecom industry. The South Korean government has decided to remove the upper limit of 330,000 won ($289) for the subsidies as part of the efforts to lessen the telecommunication cost burden on consumers and to make subsidies’ packages more transparent. The lim

Technology Oct. 2, 2017

Like other fast-growing tech companies in China rapidly chasing and surpassing global leaders, Ecovacs of China is confident that it can provide robot vacuum cleaners that better suit households here than those by strong Korean competitors Samsung and LG.“According to our study, Samsung and LG products are bigger and louder than ours, which are more perfect for European and US households than Asian,” said David Qian, president of the international business unit at Ecovacs, expressing his confide

Technology Oct. 1, 2017

SK Telecom, the No.1 mobile carrier by subscriber numbers in South Korea, announced Friday it will fully own SK Telink, a total ICT solution providing subsidiary, widely seen as a move by the telecom giant to turn itself into a mid-level holdings firm.At a board meeting on Thursday, SKT’s board of directors made a decision to acquire a 14.14 percent stake in Telink, in addition to the 85.86 percent already owned by the telecom business, for 270,583 won ($236.2) per share. Telink, at the same tim

Technology Sept. 29, 2017

South Korean tech leaders SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics announced Thursday their completion of the world’s first end-to-end network interworking trial of fourth- and fifth-generation networks, which will allow consumers to enjoy immersive media content while driving in the early stages of the commercialization of 5G. The trial took place in the Euljiro area of central Seoul, where SKT is headquartered. A 360-degree virtual reality video clip was streamed live between a user in a traveling c

Technology Sept. 28, 2017

South Korean memory chipmaker SK hynix announced Thursday it will invest more than 200 billion won to build a research and development center for its emerging cash cow NAND in the company’s headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. When completed in September 2019, dispersed R&D crews across the Icheon campus will move in to the new center, including researchers and developers of the company’s flagship 3-D NAND chips and future technologies. The new R&D center will break ground next month on ab

Technology Sept. 28, 2017

Since March 2015, when KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu first mentioned 5G, or the fifth-generation network, the South Korean mobile carrier has been making efforts to prepare for the establishment of the world’s first 5G network services. The company’s efforts are close to bearing fruit at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics set to take place in Gangwon Province in February. Taking advantage of being an official telecom partner for the PyeongChang Olympics, KT has been working to showcase the world

Technology Sept. 27, 2017

Technological advancements centering on artificial intelligence and robotics will inevitably halve jobs, but at the same time, create new task-specific jobs, said Lee Ho-soo, president of ICT strategy at SK Telecom, on Tuesday. At the Korea CQ Forum of Corea Image Communication Institute at the Danish Ambassador’s residence in northern Seoul, Lee, who is a veteran of AI technologies, delivered a special lecture on latest technological advances toward the “fourth industrial revolution” and their

Technology Sept. 27, 2017