SK hynix confirms W9.4tr investment in Yongin Cluster's 1st fab

SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, said it has decided to invest about 9.4 trillion won ($6.77 billion) in building the first manufacturing plant and business facilities of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in a board meeting on Friday. The chipmaker plans to start construction of the first fab in the Yongin cluster in March next year, and complete it in May 2027. The envisioned manufacturing plant will produce next-generation DRAM, including High Bandwidth Memory, a rep

July 26, 2024

Samsung may supply advanced image sensors for Apple: analyst

Samsung Electronics may supply its advanced camera sensors for Apple, ending Sony’s longstanding rein as an exclusive supplier to the global tech giant, according to a supply chain analyst. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, a supply chain analyst at TF International Securities, Samsung is expected to “begin shipping its 1/2.6-inch 48MP ultra-wide CMOS image censors (CIS) as early as 2026.” “To this end, Samsung has established a dedicated team to serve Apple” the analyst w

July 26, 2024

LG Electronics achieves record earnings in Q2

LG Electronics said Thursday it achieved its all-time high quarterly earnings in the April-June period this year, largely buoyed by the solid growth of its home appliance and vehicle component businesses. Sales increased 8.5 percent on-year to 21.7 trillion won ($15.7 billion) in the second quarter of this year, while operating profits soared 61.2 percent to 1.2 trillion won during the same period. The company attributed the upbeat earnings to the "balanced" management of its core busi

July 25, 2024

SK hynix Q2 earnings soar to record high on AI chip boom

SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker by revenue, said Thursday it logged all-time-high sales of 16.4 trillion won ($11.8 billion) in the April-June period this year, riding on the robust demand for artificial intelligence chips. Reporting the second quarter's earnings, the company said it will supply the cutting-edge 12-layer HBM3E chips to customers before the end of the year, keeping its dominance in the burgeoning AI chip market. The operating profit posted 5.46 trilli

July 25, 2024

[Business Diplomacy] Korea becomes popular destination for US governors

South Korea seems to have been a popular destination for US state governors. This year alone, four governors leading the US industrial heartlands of the Midwest and the South visited Korea to meet with corporate partners and attract new investors. “We're very excited about the relationship that we have built with Korea and Korean companies and we want it to grow,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said upon his first visit to Korea in July. “If there are ways that we can improve

July 24, 2024

Seomjae to debut AI-powered math program at CES 2025

Seomjae, a Seoul-based education solutions developer, is set to launch officially its AI Retrieval-Augmented Generation model-based mathematics learning program at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January. In preparation for the launch, Seomjae announced on Tuesday that it completed gathering beta testers for the program. The beta test, starting on July 29 and lasting about a month, will involve 50 students from Seoul, Ulsan, and Boston. The program, developed over two years by a

July 23, 2024

Founder's arrest leaves Kakao's future in doubt

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, has been plunged into crisis, as its founder and top decision-maker Kim Beom-su was arrested on Tuesday on charges of stock price rigging linked to last year's takeover of K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment. With a leadership vacuum and a dent to its reputation, concerns are rising over the impact of the disruption on the tech giant’s drive for corporate restructuring and growth in burgeoning technologies i

July 23, 2024

Samsung Electro-Mechanics to supply advanced substrates for AMD processors

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, the electronic parts manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, announced Monday that it would supply high-performance substrates for hyper-scale data centers to AMD, the US chip design firm. According to the company, the flip chip ball grid array (FCBGA) substrate offers larger surface areas and higher layer counts for dense interconnections, which means better operational efficiency and lower energy consumption. The product will be produced at the company’

July 22, 2024

LG Innotek unveils new digital key solution for cars

LG Innotek said Monday that it has developed a more advanced digital key solution for smartphone-based vehicle control. The technology uses wireless communication to connect with smartphones, allowing users to unlock and start their vehicles without carrying a key, thus reducing the risk of key loss and enhancing security. Since launching its first automotive digital key module in 2021, the company has continued upgrading the technology. The new next-generation solution combines the previous mod

July 22, 2024

Is Samsung on track for large-scale M&A deals?

Samsung Electronics is seen ramping up its merger and acquisition efforts to secure a stronger footing in the rising technology sectors, including artificial intelligence. The South Korean tech giant, leading in mobile devices and semiconductors, announced Thursday its acquisition of Oxford Semantic Technologies, a UK-based startup specializing in knowledge graph technology. It is the first time the company makes such an investment via Samsung Research, its research and development hub. The deal

July 21, 2024

10 Korean companies on recovery from Microsoft IT outage

Following the mass global tech outage linked to Microsoft that disrupted critical public services and grounded planes, 10 companies affected in Korea have restored their operations or are on their way to recovery, said industry officials on Sunday. A faulty update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike was released worldwide to Microsoft's Windows operating systems on Friday, resulting in “blue screen of death” crashes and systems being knocked offline in airports, hospitals and

July 21, 2024

Will Galaxy Ring renew Samsung-Apple rivalry?

Competition between global tech rivals Samsung Electronics and Apple for domination of the burgeoning digital health care market heats up as elderly populations grow rapidly in many parts of the world. Samsung considers digital health care as a future growth engine. The strategy is to put health management app Samsung Health at the forefront and use the Galaxy Watch series as a pivotal element, particularly highlighting its sleep management feature. Last week, the Korean tech giant unveiled the

July 19, 2024

Samsung sees fewer preorders for Galaxy Z foldable phones

Preorders for Samsung Electronics’ new foldable smartphones have topped 910,000 units in South Korea, a decline from 1.02 million preorders for their predecessors last year, according to the tech giant on Friday. Ahead of the official release of the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Fold6 on July 24, Samsung accepted preorders for the new phones for a week until Thursday in Korea. Despite a nearly 10 percent decline from last year, consumers in their 20s and 30s – Samsung’s target audience &n

July 19, 2024

LG eyes W1tr sales in smart factory solutions by 2030

LG Electronics said Thursday it has set a goal of achieving over 1 trillion won ($724 million) in sales in the smart factory solutions business by 2030, by integrating artificial intelligence and digital transformation technologies as well as manufacturing and production data. “Despite it being the inaugural year of operation, substantial progress has already been made,” said Song Si-yong, a smart factory business division leader of LG PRI (Production Engineering Research Institute),

July 18, 2024

Samsung acquires UK tech startup to expand on-device AI capabilities

Samsung Electronics said Thursday that it has acquired Oxford Semantic Technologies, a UK-based startup, to enhance the on-device AI integrated into its Galaxy series. According to the tech giant, the acquisition was formalized Tuesday, though the financial details have yet to be disclosed. The acquired firm, founded in 2017 by three professors from the University of Oxford, leads in knowledge graphs, a key technology for advancing and personalizing artificial intelligence. This technology, whic

July 18, 2024

Tmax Tibero’s research center recognized top R&D center by Science Ministry

Tmax Group announced Thursday that the research institute under its database management system (DBMS) specialist subsidiary, TmaxTibero, has been recognized by the Ministry of Science and ICT as the top corporate research and development center for the first half of 2024. Among 24 exemplary corporate research institutes chosen by the ministry, two, including TmaxTibero, were highlighted for their global growth potential and designated as top-tier. TmaxTibero's research institute focuses on

July 18, 2024

Google suspends popular search service in Korea

US tech giant Google has recently discontinued offering real-time popular searches in Korea, a feature long banned by its Korean rivals such as Naver and Daum due to the possibility of manipulating public opinion. “We have decided to remove the feature from Google Search in Korea. The feature is no longer available here,” Google Korea said in a statement Wednesday. No further elaboration on the reason and timing of the suspension was given. Naver and Daum suspended their popular sear

July 17, 2024

[Herald Interview] SK’s investment in Kentucky to attract more investors like ‘gravity’: Gov.

SK On’s new battery plant in Kentucky – the world’s largest of its kind – will help attract more investments into the US state like “gravity,” Gov. Andy Beshear told The Korea Herald in an interview held in Seoul on Monday. SK On, the battery-making unit of SK Group, has set up a joint venture with US auto giant Ford, called BlueOval SK, in the southeastern state of the US, with a whopping $5.8 billion investment. “SK On’s project is the largest in

July 16, 2024

SKT invests $200m in data center specialist Smart Global in AI push

SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier by membership, said Tuesday that it has signed a contract to invest $200 million in Smart Global Holdings, a US company specializing in data center integration solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, SKT will acquire 200,000 preferred shares and secure about 10 percent ownership through conversion to common stock. This marks the telecom giant’s largest investment in the artificial intelligence sector. With this investment, the am

July 16, 2024

Chinese rivals to take on Samsung with slimmer foldable phones

Amid Samsung Electronics’ leadership as a foldable phone pioneer, its Chinese rivals appear to be racing to shrink the size of their new phones. Last week in Paris, Samsung unveiled its new foldable phones the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6, touting them as the slimmer and lighter phones to be powered by its new artificial intelligence features, called Galaxy AI. Just a few days after Samsung's highly-publicized Unpacked event, China’s Honor launched its version Friday, saying the new

July 15, 2024