Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday visited the company’s smartphone plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, to encourage employees who are working despite the coronavirus risks in the region. The plant produces Samsung’s latest premium smartphones, including the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip. But with a total of four confirmed cases of coronavirus infections among its employees, it had to shut down twice as of Monday.  Lee, with a face mask, checked

Technology March 3, 2020

LG employees eat lunch at partitioned tables as a precaution to prevent the spread of COVID-19, at the group’s Twin Towers headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, Tuesday. (LG Corp.)

Industry March 3, 2020

The semiconductor industry, bellwether for the South Korean economy, showed signs of recovery last month, despite the aggravating coronavirus woes, according to various indicators Tuesday. The country’s total chip exports grew 9.4 percent to $7.42 billion in February compared to the same month last year, data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed. It was the first on-year growth in silicon exports in 15 months. In spite of the extended Chinese Lunar New Year holiday l

Technology March 3, 2020

Samsung Electronics’ mobile business factory based in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, has confirmed the fourth case of coronavirus infection among its workforce, according to authorities Monday. An office worker at the Gumi site has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the company reported. All of the office rooms on the same floor as the confirmed patient have now been cleared for disinfection. “There is no shutdown of the production lines in the Gumi site as of yet,&r

Technology March 2, 2020

SK Siltron said Monday it has acquired the silicon carbide wafer business of Michigan-based DuPont to enter the electric vehicle and 5G network markets. The affiliate of SK Group -- the only wafer producer in South Korea -- decided in September to acquire the SiC wafer business from DuPont for 540 billion won ($450 million). The deal was concluded Saturday. SiC wafer is a next-generation chip material that is a compound of silicon and carbon, offering unique electrical and thermal propertie

Technology March 2, 2020

Samsung Electronics and its 16 affiliates on Friday apologized for accessing employees’ records of donations to civil organizations without their permission. In a statement, they said the former control tower of Samsung Group -- called the Future Strategy Office -- had unauthorized access to the records of Samsung executives and employees regarding donations to 10 civic groups in May 2013. “The office defined the 10 civic groups as ‘rebellious’ and browsed employees&r

Industry Feb. 28, 2020

Samsung Display said Thursday its organic light-emitting diode panels for 5G smartphones have been certified as energy-saving and eye-care displays by multiple international organizations. The company is a major supplier for the latest Galaxy S20 series. SGS, a Switzerland-based certification institute, said Samsung’s latest OLED display for smartphones emit 6.5 percent blue light, the lowest percentage among comparable products. As of last year, other firms’ OLED products produ

Technology Feb. 27, 2020

South Korea’s biggest conglomerates announced Wednesday plans to inject emergency funds to support ongoing efforts to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Samsung Group said all its affiliates will donate a total of 30 billion won ($246 million) to Korea Disaster Relief Association for securing relief goods such as hand sanitizers, disinfectants, daily necessities and health products. Samsung Electronics and its affiliates held emergency board meetings to approve the expe

Industry Feb. 26, 2020

South Korea’s leading steelmaker Posco said Wednesday it will continue to assist communities in need around the world as part of its corporate citizenship efforts. Most recently it reached out to the people of Wuhan, the Chinese city that was the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak. The company sent 1 billion won ($820,159) worth of supplies for city’s citizens on Jan. 31, including masks and hand sanitizers to help prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Earlier in January

Industry Feb. 26, 2020

Huawei unveiled its second foldable smartphone, the Mate Xs, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, in an online broadcast to prevent spreading the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The out-folding Mate Xs has a display the same size as that of its predecessor -- 8 inches diagonally when unfolded -- but features an improved hinge mechanism, called a “falcon-wing hinge,” and a stronger wraparound screen. Huawei’s mobile business head, Richard Yu, said during the launch presentati

Technology Feb. 25, 2020

LG Chem, South Korea’s leading lithium-ion battery maker, said Tuesday that the company will start supplying cylindrical batteries this year for the Lucid Air, the first electric vehicle to be commercialized by Lucid Motors. The supply deal is expected to enhance the firm’s electric vehicle battery portfolio, along with its proprietary pouch-type batteries. The company is focusing on supplying pouch batteries and has order backlogs worth 150 trillion won ($124 billion). But the

Technology Feb. 25, 2020

Samsung Electronics announced Tuesday that it had begun mass production of the industry’s first 16-gigabyte DRAM for premium smartphones. The 16 GB low-power DDR5 DRAM, based on Samsung’s second-generation 10-nanometer-class (1y) process technology, offers a data transfer rate of 5,500 megabits per second, which is about 1.3 times faster than the previous mobile memory LPDDR4X. It also offers an energy savings of over 20 percent while providing twice the capacity. The advance wi

Technology Feb. 25, 2020

Samsung Electronics’ smartphone production facility in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, was shut down over the weekend due to a confirmed case of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, industry sources said Sunday. The Gumi facility, 202 kilometers south of Seoul, consists of two production lines for network equipment and premium smartphones, including the latest Galaxy S20 series and the foldable Galaxy Z Flip. A female employee in her 20s who worked on the smartphone line was dia

Technology Feb. 23, 2020

South Korean chipmakers have started to be concerned about a looming slowdown in demand for chips and impact on production in the wake of an unexpected spike in the number of COVID-19 infections across the country, according to industry sources on Thursday. “So far, the company is not facing any difficulty in running the production lines as usual, but it is worrisome that signs of demand slowdown from set makers are looming as the situation gets worse and longer,” said an official

Technology Feb. 20, 2020

South Korean tech giants including Samsung Electronics may face punitive measures by Iran in relation to business decisions that may have been influenced by US sanctions, reports and industry watchers said Tuesday. According to news reports, Iran could refuse entry of Samsung executives and staff and impose a partial ban on registration of Samsung phones with the Iranian mobile network, according to Mohammad Jafar Na’nakar, head of the legal department of the Iranian Ministry of Informati

Technology Feb. 19, 2020