A rare partnership between crosstown rivals Samsung and LG seems imminent, as they are finalizing talks on LG’s panel supply for Samsung’s upcoming OLED TVs, industry sources said Thursday. “Until early this year, the outlook for their partnership was dimming at least for this year. But the talks have recently been speeding up,” said an industry source on condition of anonymity. The source predicted the first panel shipments could start as early as September, considerin

Technology March 31, 2022

SK Inc., the strategic investment arm of SK Group, on Tuesday pledged to enhance shareholder benefits while consolidating its investment portfolio centering on advanced materials, biopharmaceuticals and carbon neutrality. The holding firm of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate held a general meeting of shareholders at its Seoul headquarters earlier in the day, during which all agenda items, including financial statements for the fiscal year of 2021 and the reelection of SK Group Chai

Industry March 29, 2022

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the world’s top two memory chip makers, are projected to post record first-quarter earnings this year over rising chip prices and robust demand, Yonhap Infomax, a local financial data tracker, said Monday. According to earnings consensus among securities firms here, Samsung, the No. 1 producer of memory chips, is forecast to record 75.21 trillion won ($61.34 billion) in sales and 13.89 trillion won in operating profits in the three months of this year, u

Industry March 28, 2022

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who doubles as head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Wednesday showed high expectations about the private sector playing a bigger role in the agenda-setting process of the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government. “I think it may be the time to rethink the role of the private sector,” Chey told reporters in an interview marking his first anniversary as the chief of the nation’s largest business lobby. “In the past, the governm

Industry March 24, 2022

Hong Ra-hee, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s mother, reportedly sold her shares in the company worth 1.3 trillion won ($1.06 billion) in a block trade Wednesday, the latest stake sale by the Samsung family being carried out apparently to pay inheritance taxes. According to industry sources on Thursday, Hong entrusted the sale of her 0.33 percent stake in Samsung Electronics to KB Bank in September last year and the stake was sold in a block deal through Morgan Stanley an

Industry March 24, 2022

LG Energy Solution and SK On, two Korean battery makers that are increasingly expanding their production base in key markets for electric vehicles, have recently won hefty incentives in the US and Europe, respectively. On Tuesday, the state of Michigan approved a package of incentives worth about $600 million for LG Energy Solution, including $565 million in government subsidies and $132.6 million in tax cuts. The incentives come after the battery maker announced a new investment of $1.7 bil

Industry March 23, 2022

Samsung Group’s two heiresses are reportedly seeking to raise about 400 billion won ($327 million) by selling their shares in Samsung SDS, the IT solutions unit, possibly in a move to secure funds to pay inheritance taxes. According to industry sources Tuesday, a combined 3.9 percent stake in Samsung SDS was sold in a block trade after Monday’s closing through KB Securities and Morgan Stanley. The price ranged between 127,400 won and 129,500 won apiece, about a 7 to 9 percent disco

Industry March 22, 2022

BH, a local display parts supplier for Apple and Samsung Electronics, said Monday it is in talks with LG Electronics to acquire the tech giant’s in-car wireless smartphone charging business. “Discussions are underway to acquire the in-car wireless smartphone charging business as part of efforts to diversity business portfolio and bolster competiveness,” the firm said in a regulatory filing in response to a news report earlier in the day. According to the report, BH is seeki

Technology March 21, 2022

Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho on Thursday hinted at the possibility of building the battery maker’s own plant in the US, a burgeoning market for electric vehicles where the company is setting up a joint venture with Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot vehicles. “Adding to the joint venture with Stellantis, we think there needs to be our own production base in the US,” Choi told reporters after a general meeting of shareholders in Seoul. “We are conside

Industry March 17, 2022

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee on Wednesday apologized over the escalating disputes surrounding performance issues of the tech giant’s latest flagship Galaxy S22. “We were unable to properly consider our consumer’s needs,” Han said as he bowed deep in apology in front of some 1,600 shareholders attending an annual general meeting both in-person and online. It was the first time that a top Samsung executive has offered an apology to the publi

Technology March 16, 2022

Chaebol scions in their 40s and 50s are increasingly taking over their fathers’ sprawling business empires recently, speeding up a generational shift at South Korea’s family-run conglomerates. According to a report by chaebol tracker Korea CXO Institute on Tuesday, there were a total of 270 executives at the nation’s 200 largest companies who are scions of the ownership families born in 1970 or later. Of them, the number of those with the chairman title was 21, including tw

Industry March 15, 2022

Samsung Electronics will hold an annual meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, amid complaints growing over performance issues of its latest Galaxy phones and falling stock prices that failed to reflect the world’s top smartphone and chip maker’s robust earnings. The key agenda of the upcoming meeting is the appointment of four presidents, including Kyung Kye-hyun, co-CEO and head of chip business, and Roh Tae-moon, head of mobile business, as new internal board members. Industry w

Technology March 14, 2022

South Korea and the US have seen their trade volume surge almost 70 percent since a free trade pact was signed in 2011, with their economic ties being enhanced as a key partnership to resolve the current supply chain disruptions. According to a report released Friday by the Korea International Trade Association that marks the 10th anniversary of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, trade volume between the two countries soared 67.8 percent to $169.1 billion last year from $100.8 billion in 2011.

Industry March 11, 2022

South Korea’s business lobby groups on Thursday welcomed Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative opposition leader who has pledged to pursue a small government and ease regulations, as the nation’s next president. The 61-year-old former prosecutor won an extremely tight race earlier in the day, bringing conservatives back to power in five years. He will replace President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader whose single five-year term ends in May. The Korea Chamber of Commerce, the nation&rsq

Industry March 10, 2022

Russia on Tuesday threatened to pile pressure on Korean businesses by introducing new bond rules to allow Russian companies to pay their foreign creditors in the Russian ruble, even for securities denominated in other currencies. Companies here that prefer to get paid in the US dollar immediately started reviewing the impact, raising concerns that the new measure could eventually lead to a default. Russia may not be a major market for many Korean firms, but big names like Samsung Electronics

Industry March 8, 2022