Samsung Electronics’ former mobile business chief Koh Dong-jin was the highest-paid executive at the Korean tech giant last year, according to the firm’s regulatory filing Tuesday. Koh, who has stepped away from daily operations to assume an advisory role, took home an annual pay of 11.8 billion won ($9.5 million) last year, including bonuses worth 4.04 billion won and a retirement pay of 6.43 billion won. In a year-end reshuffle in December, Koh stepped down from the post along w

Industry March 9, 2022

South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group has become the largest shareholder of a local chip-testing firm, Tesna, in a move to secure a footing in the surging semiconductor market. According to Doosan Wednesday, the group recently purchased a 38.7 percent stake in Tesna for 460 billion won ($373.1 million). Founded in 2002, Tesna has specialized in testing various chips, including processors for smartphones, camera image sensors and radio frequency chips for wireless communications. The firm,

Industry March 9, 2022

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog is expected to investigate Samsung Electronics over a complaint that the company has exaggerated the performance of its Galaxy smartphones. According to industry sources Tuesday, the Fair Trade Commission received a complaint that Samsung Electronics violated advertisement law when it promoted its Galaxy S22 smartphones. With the complaint filed to the FTC, the watchdog is likely to launch a preliminary investigation soon and look into whether Samsung El

Industry March 8, 2022

Posco Chemical said Tuesday it will build an electric vehicle material factory with General Motors in Canada. According to the refractory and secondary battery materials arm of South Korean steel giant Posco, the two firms will together invest $400 million to construct the first phase of a cathode production facility in Quebec, Canada. The two parties discussed a joint cathode factory since December. More investment will be made depending on GM’s future EV business. Cathodes are mate

Industry March 8, 2022

Samsung Electronics is facing accusations that it exaggerated the performance of its flagship smartphone Galaxy S22 series. The controversy revolves around an application called game optimizing service, or “GOS.” When users play games with Galaxy S22 smartphones, GOS is activated and adjusts the performance of smartphones to help batteries last longer and prevent overheating issues. Gamers have complained about GOS for some time because the app, which cannot be switched off by th

Industry March 7, 2022

LG Electronics said Sunday it has launched a brand-new laptop, Chromebook, to target the growing education market, the size of which is expected to increase five times in three years. According to the consumer electronics firm, the 11-inch laptop offers a touch screen and can be utilized as a tablet as it bends backward. Weighing just 1.44 kilograms, the laptop is available for 690,000 won ($567). The cheap price was possible as the laptop doesn’t require an expensive Windows operating

Industry March 6, 2022

Samsung Electronics has suspended its shipments to Russia and donated $6 million to Ukraine, according to industry sources Sunday. The South Korean tech giant has become the latest multinational firm to join comprehensive sanctions against Russia, where the market has crashed and the value of the ruble has plummeted. Despite its export embargo on Russia, Samsung Electronics will still operate its local factories there. “Shipments to Russia have been suspended due to the current geopol

Industry March 6, 2022

Samsung Electronics said Thursday that its next-generation memory chip set a world record on speed. According to the South Korean tech giant, its LPDDR5X memory chip operated at 7.5 gigabits per second, the fastest speed among memory chips in the market. Short for low power double data rate 5X, the LPDDR5X chip performed at the record speed on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon mobile platform. Unveiled in November, the chip was manufactured with 14-nanometer technology. Compared to the prev

Industry March 3, 2022

BARCELONA, Spain -- LG U+ will export virtual reality content to Zain Group, a mobile carrier in the Middle East with more than 50 million users, in its effort to take initiative in the burgeoning global XR market. During a press conference held at the Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona on Wednesday, local time, LG U+ CEO Hwang Hyun-sik said the South Korean telco will aim to sell content to Zain Group, Oman’s No. 1 mobile carrier Omantel and Malaysia’s No. 3 player Celcom. &l

Industry March 3, 2022

To stabilize soaring global oil prices amid the heightening crisis between Russia and Ukraine, South Korea on Wednesday decided to join the International Energy Agency to release 60 million barrels to the market. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Wednesday, the 31 members of the IEA held an online meeting on Tuesday and agreed to inject some 60 million barrels of emergency reserves to alleviate concerns over an oil supply crunch as the result of Russia’s ongoing inva

Industry March 2, 2022

BARCELONA, Spain -- SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang announced at World Mobile Congress 2022 on Monday, local time, that the firm has chosen three new technologies to seek future growths -- metaverse, artificial intelligence chips and quantum cryptography. During a press conference, Ryu pledged to make a foray into those future technologies this year as the company has accumulated enough know-how on 5G, which was commercialized three years ago. Based on its 5G experience, SKT aims to introduc

Industry March 1, 2022

Samsung Electronics Monday released Galaxy Book2 Business, a laptop mounted with Microsoft and Intel’s anti-virus programs and advanced 6E Wi-Fi, targeting remote workers who remain vulnerable to cybersecurity threats and slow internet connections. During the annual Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, the South Korean tech giant announced the release of Galaxy Book2 Business installed with layers of protection from Intel and Microsoft. The laptop, which only weighs 1.51 kil

Industry Feb. 28, 2022

As the US Biden administration imposes economic sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, South Korean firms including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to take collateral damage. On Friday, President Joe Biden unveiled comprehensive economic sanctions to cripple the Russian economy. The sanctions would limit the export of products that can potentially increase Russia’s ability to advance its military and aerospace sector. The sanctions would prohibit companies from s

Industry Feb. 25, 2022

Samsung Electronics on Friday launched its latest flagship smartphone Galaxy S22 as well as its tablet Galaxy Tab S8 in some 40 countries. According to the South Korean tech giant, the new devices will be available in major markets including Korea, the US, Canada, the UK and France. In March, the high-tech gadgets will be available in more than 130 countries. The Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy Tab S8 series enjoyed greater preorders than previous models. Preorders for both the Galaxy S22 and Galax

Industry Feb. 25, 2022

Korea Electric Power Corp. hemorrhaged a record operating loss of 5.8 trillion won ($4.8 billion) last year, going back into the red after an operating profit of 4 trillion won the year before. Kepco suffered an unprecedented deficit as the public company couldn’t raise electricity prices in line with rising global fuel prices, due to the government’s inflation concerns. The figure is almost double from when Kepco witnessed an operating loss of 2.7 trillion won in 2008 when oil

Industry Feb. 24, 2022