Korean chipmakers given 1-year grace period on US chip export curb on China

South Korean chipmakers will be given a one-year grace period that would allow for their China-based chip plants to continue to import critical chipmaking tools from the United States, without the licensing requirements announced the previous week by the Joe Biden administration. Memory chip maker SK hynix revealed that the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has assured SK hynix that the company, its suppliers and business partners are still authorized to engage in

Oct. 12, 2022

LG Energy Solution, Honda to build $4.4b battery plant in Ohio

South Korean lithium-ion battery maker LG Energy Solution and Japanese automaker Honda have selected Fayette County, Ohio as the location to commit to a combined $4.4 billion to build an electric vehicle battery plant beginning 2023, the companies said Wednesday. The construction was initially estimated to cost $3.5 billion. Once the construction is complete by the end of 2024, the new plant will start to mass produce pouch-type lithium-ion batteries beginning 2025 with the annual production cap

Oct. 12, 2022

SK Siltron, UK-based IQE to develop semiconductor wafers for 5G, auto chips

South Korean semiconductor wafer maker SK Siltron and Britain-based chip material firm IQE has inked a strategic collaboration agreement to develop next-generation compound semiconductor products targeting the Asian market, SK Siltron said Tuesday. Under the agreement signed Thursday, the two companies will work to develop epitaxial wafers based on gallium nitride using IQE's technology, with wafer substrates made of silicon and silicon carbide supplied by SK Siltron. Gallium nitride can he

Oct. 11, 2022

Lotte signs W2.7tr deal to acquire Iljin Materials

South Korean business conglomerate Lotte Group has signed a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Iljin Materials, a copper foil supplier to electric vehicle battery makers for 2.7 trillion won ($1.9 billion), in Lotte's move to enhance the EV component portfolio, filings showed Tuesday. Lotte Battery Materials USA, a subsidiary of Lotte's petrochemical arm Lotte Chemical, will buy a 53.3 percent stake, or 24.6 million ordinary shares, in the world's fourth-largest copper foil ma

Oct. 11, 2022

Samsung vows W7.5tr investment in Biologics over next 10 years

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday visited Samsung Biologics, a contract manufacturing and development organization under the Samsung empire, in Songdo, west of Seoul, vowing to invest 7.5 trillion won ($5.2 billion) through 2032 to solidify the biotechnology unit's leading position in the worldwide CDMO industry.  The investment is about building four more biomanufacturing plants at the second Biocampus, the company said, adding that it has begun the partial operati

Oct. 11, 2022

Blind: App that has everyone in the workplace talking

Blind, a workplace community app, has been a source of some of the biggest company news stories and viral social media posts globally. They range from the Korean Air “nut rage” incident and the 2017 sexual harassment allegations at Uber to the controversy at US food delivery platform DoorDash over an initiative that requires all employees to make one food delivery every month, to name a few. One of the latest corporate news stories to come out of the anonymous user-based platform for

Oct. 11, 2022

Samsung's Ukraine office damaged by Russia's missile attack on Kyiv

A building housing Samsung Electronics Co.'s Ukraine operation was damaged following Russia's missile attack on Kyiv on Monday, officials said. Earlier in the day, Russia shelled several cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv, leaving at least five dead in the capital city alone, according to news reports. An official from Samsung Electronics confirmed that some of the building's windows were shattered following the attack, although a missile did not directly hit the location but landed some 150 m

Oct. 10, 2022

[From the Scene] At LG plant, unmanned robots boost output, ensure workplace safety

CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang Province -- The factory automation spearheaded by robots has allowed LG Electronics’ home appliance manufacturing plant, located some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to boost productivity and ensure workplace safety. “Over the course of five years of operation, we saw a nearly 25 percent increase in output, along with a similar employment rate for the last five years,” said Kang Myeong-suk, a task leader at LG’s kitchen appliances division,

Oct. 10, 2022

Posco, LG sign comprehensive agreement for EV battery material supply

Steel-to-chemical material firm Posco Holdings and lithium-ion battery cell manufacturer LG Energy Solution signed a more comprehensive agreement for electric vehicle battery material supply, the companies announced Monday. Based on the nonbinding agreement signed on Friday, Posco Holding is to ink a long-term deal to supply cathode materials and anode materials to LG Energy Solution before the end of 2022, according to South Korea's largest battery cell maker by batteries supplied to cars.

Oct. 10, 2022

US chip export curbs won't likely hurt Samsung, SK hynix: lawmaker

Amid a chaotic mood building among Korean chipmakers operating fabrication plants in China over Washington's chip export curbs on Beijing, a South Korean lawmaker said Sunday the companies are unlikely to be hurt, as the US would take some time to see to how the repercussions of its actions play out through the global supply chain. "(US authorities) are unlikely to be harsh in export controls on semiconductor equipment going to Korea-owned facilities, because the extent of (repercussions fr

Oct. 9, 2022

LG Electronics supplies autonomous robots to malls in Japan

LG Electronics said Sunday it has supplied autonomous robots to two locations of shopping mall chain Aeon in Japan. The multipurpose customer service robots, branded as the LG CLOi GuideBot, have recently begun operating in Aeon malls in Toki, a suburb of Nagoya, and Narita, 60 kilometers east of Tokyo, according to the South Korean tech giant, without specifying dates. The robots feature two 27-inch flat-panel displays with touch-screen functions at the front and the rear side. They can also co

Oct. 9, 2022

Science experts call for creation of national science hub

South Korea’s science experts have called for nationwide efforts to set up a national science hub in order to gather the country’s scientific talents and research efforts. According to the Science Dreamland, an incorporated association, over 100 figures from the science and technology sector, local governments and companies gathered to share thoughts on how to successfully push for building a national science hub at the National Assembly Members Office on Friday. The association refe

Oct. 7, 2022

Samsung's Q3 operating earnings to drop sharply on weak chip demand

Samsung Electronics is expected to log a sharp drop in its quarterly operating profits as the company on Friday announced that its tentative third-quarter operating profits are estimated at 10.8 trillion won ($7.7 billion), a 31.73 percent decline on year. According to the South Korean chipmaker, its operating profits from the third quarter will also have declined by 23.4 percent on quarter. The downfall will mark the first quarterly dip in the company’s operating profits since the fourth

Oct. 7, 2022

Samsung has no plan to cut chip production

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip maker, has denied any plans to reduce production of memory chips, amid widespread fear of an economic slowdown and falling chip prices. “We have no plan to do so for now,” Han Jin-man, senior vice president of Samsung’s memory chip business division, told reporters at a tech forum on Wednesday in San Jose, California, in response to a question about potential production reduction plans. Han’s remarks come as Sam

Oct. 6, 2022

Heads of Samsung, SoftBank meet in Seoul

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son held talks on Tuesday over ways for a strategic alliance between the chips-to-mobile giant and SoftBank-backed chip intellectual property giant Arm, according to industry sources on Wednesday. The meeting at Samsung Electronics’ Seoul office was also accompanied by Samsung’s co-CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, who oversees semiconductor business, and mobile business chief Roh Tae-moon, as well as Arm CEO R

Oct. 5, 2022

LG Energy Solution launches two in-house ventures

LG Energy Solution said Wednesday it has launched two in-house ventures, called KooRoo and AVEL, allowing its employees more independence and flexibility to spur innovation in its battery business ecosystem. KooRoo is a battery as a service (BaaS) company that offers services based on data generated throughout the whole life cycle of batteries. Their first project is a battery pack replacement service for two-wheeled vehicles like an electric bicycle. AVEL is an energy as a service (EaaS) compan

Oct. 5, 2022

SK hynix seeks full autonomy on neon supply chain by 2024

South Korean memory chip manufacturer SK hynix on Wednesday pledged to achieve a 100 percent procurement of domestically produced neon gas, a critical material for chip production, by 2024. SK hynix added that 40 percent of neon gas used for chip production is already locally produced in Korean chipmakers' bid to stabilize chip supply chain and reduce their reliance on imports of the specialty gas. Neon gas makes up about 95 percent of excimer laser, a ultraviolet light source for photolith

Oct. 5, 2022

Naver to buy US social commerce platform Poshmark for $1.6b

South Korean IT giant Naver will buy Poshmark, the largest social commerce marketplace in North America, for a total of $1.6 billion (2.3 trillion won), the companies said Tuesday. Naver will acquire all of Poshmark stocks at $17.9 per share in a buyout worth approximately $1.2 billion. The rest of the $1.6 billion deal includes consideration for Poshmark’s cash holdings of some $580 million. As the biggest acquisition ever for a Korean IT company, Wednesday’s announcement marked t

Oct. 4, 2022

Samsung aims to produce 1.4nm chips from 2027

Samsung Electronics unveiled a five-year road map for its contract chipmaking business Monday, saying it would start producing chips using the 2-nanometer technology in 2025 and the 1.4-nanometer technology in 2027. The new plan came after the South Korean tech giant became the first chipmaker to produce chips on the 3nm production process, the most sophisticated chipmaking technology in the market, in June. Chips with smaller nanometer ratings are more powerful, as they can fit in more transist

Oct. 4, 2022

[From the Scene] SK expands manufacturing capacity to meet growing global demand

SEJONG -- SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate by market capitalization, is looking to expand its contract development and manufacturing organization businesses with the completion of SK Biotek Sejong plant’s third pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. With SK Biotek’s Module 3 launch in September, the Sejong Plant’s total manufacturing capacity increased by over 50 percent to 290 cubic meters. Combined with Modules 1 and 2, the plant can now produce up t

Oct. 4, 2022