SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho, who is also the chief of SK Telecom, has been appointed as the chipmaker’s co-CEO at its board meeting Tuesday, the firm said. As co-CEO, Park will assume the role of building the corporate culture and leading establishment of long-term strategies for the chipmaker to strengthen global competitiveness and find new growth opportunities. Current CEO Lee Seok-hee will be responsible for development, investment and operation to strengthen technology and

Technology March 30, 2021

Newest TV models by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have been certified for Wi-Fi 6E technologies, the first in the global TV industry, according to the companies on Tuesday. Samsung said its 2021 Neo QLED 8K TV models have earned the world’s first Wi-Fi 6E certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi 6E, a new standard in connected technology, offers four times faster connectivity based on stable and reliable data transfers – even when multiple devices are connected t

Technology March 30, 2021

Magnachip, spun off from South Korea’s SK hynix and listed on the US stock market, has been sold to a Chinese private equity fund, according to industry sources Monday. The chipmaker will be acquired by China’s Wise Road Capital for 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) according to the company announcement. All of the shares will be sold to the Chinese fund at $29 per share with a 75 percent premium, which is estimated to be $1.4 billion. “The latest deal will not only bring

Technology March 29, 2021

Korea will need its own global positioning system, dubbed KPS, for the sake of the country’s national security as well as space industry development, said Kim Ji-chan, chief executive officer of LIG Nex1. “Without the country’s own satellite navigation system, Korea relies heavily on the GPS developed by the United States,” Kim told a meeting on Korea’s space development plan attended by President Moon Jae-in Thursday. LIG Nex1 is a leading defense technology

Technology March 28, 2021

Calling the punishment by the United States’ trade watchdog “catastrophic and a harm to public interest,” South Korean battery maker SK Innovation said it was considering all options, including abandonment of its $2.7 billion manufacturing facilities in the US state of Georgia. In its latest appeal to the US International Trade Commission, SK Innovation alluded to halting the ongoing construction of its second battery manufacturing plant in Commerce City, Georgia, as well as

Technology March 28, 2021

Intel’s plan to reenter the foundry business could be an indication of reshoring chip manufacturing back to the US, a key strategic move that would have ramifications on the local economy, which depends largely on chip sales. After announcing the plan to spend $20 billion on building two new fabrication plants in Arizona, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told BBC, “Having 80 percent of all supply in Asia simply isn’t a palatable manner for the world to have its view of the most crit

Technology March 25, 2021

South Korea’s semiconductor industry on Wednesday showed mixed reactions to Intel’s bid for the foundry business, agreeing with the US chip giant’s decision on the need for manufacturing not only its own chips but also chips for others at a critical time of global chip shortage. During its Engineering the Future event on Tuesday, US time, Intel’s new CEO Pat Gelsinger said the company will set a new branch named Intel Foundry Services and invest $20 billion to build t

Technology March 24, 2021

KT, South Korea’s second-biggest mobile carrier by subscribers, will invest big in content to seek growth beyond the platform business, its chief executive said Tuesday. In a press conference held virtually, CEO Ku Hyun-mo said the telecom firm had taken its first major step in January already, setting up KT Studio Genie, which will serve as the control tower of all media and content related businesses within KT. “Media platform is an important business for KT, which can bring ta

Technology March 23, 2021

Samsung Electronics has been chosen as a 5G network solution provider for Japan’s No.1 mobile operator NTT Docomo, the Korean tech giant said Tuesday. Samsung will support Docomo with its 5G technology, including O-RAN-compliant solutions, to bring enriched 5G services to Japanese users and enable digital transformation for businesses, it said. Docomo is Japan’s leading mobile carrier that has nearly 82 million users across the country. It launched 5G services in March last yea

Technology March 23, 2021

NAND flash chips could have more than 600 layers as memory technologies evolve, SK hynix CEO Lee Seok-hee said at a global forum on Monday. During a keynote speech at the International Reliability Physics Symposium hosted by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Lee said, “In both DRAM and NAND areas, the company is working to improve not only materials of memory semiconductors but also design structures and reliability to raise the technological value.” “If

Technology March 22, 2021

A group of 5G mobile network subscribers in South Korea are pushing for a class action lawsuit against the country’s three telecom companies over the quality of the services. Calling themselves “Victims of 5G,” the group aims to attract 1 million individuals to join the action to seek compensation of an amount not immediately known. The suit is to be filed through joint litigation platform called “Angry People,” it said. “Nationwide establishment of 5G n

Technology March 22, 2021

  An external compliance monitoring committee on Samsung Electronics and its affiliates concluded on Friday that the restriction on Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong’s employment was “unclear.” The committee, led by former Chief Justice Kim Ji-hyung, discussed during its regular meeting the ongoing controversy involving the Ministry of Justice’s latest ban on Lee from being employed by Samsung for five years due to his conviction in a bribery scandal involving forme

Technology March 19, 2021

LG Corp., LG Group’s holding company, said Friday that its board had launched an exclusive committee to deal with environmental, social and governance issues as part of its efforts to reinforce self-monitoring by listed affiliates for governance and compliance issues. The ESG Committee, which will be the top decision-making body on ESG management, will report policies to the board concerning environment and safety, corporate social responsibility, customer value, shareholder value and

Industry March 19, 2021

At the annual shareholders meeting set for next Friday, LG Group’s plans to spin off business units and create a new holding company for them are expected to take center stage. As the meeting approaches, market experts and advisory institutions are releasing their assessments of the restructuring plan, which the group says it has had in the works since the leadership change in 2018. LG Corp., the current holding company of LG Group, announced in November that the group would spin off

Technology March 18, 2021

Samsung Electronics is apparently shifting its focus to midrange phones from premium ones, announcing three new affordable but high-spec models on Wednesday. During its first online Galaxy Awesome Unpacked event for midrange smartphones, the South Korean smartphone vendor unveiled the Galaxy A52, A52 5G and A72 that boast optical image stabilization cameras, high-refresh rate displays and 5G for the first time among Galaxy A phones. Such a move is aimed at cementing Samsung’s top pos

Technology March 17, 2021