SK Group on Wednesday announced new plans to invest 67 trillion won ($48 billion) in provincial areas, including a cutting-edge semiconductor plant, for the next five years as part of efforts to expand production facilities at home and facilitate local economies. Earlier this year, the nation’s second-largest conglomerate had pledged to invest a combined 247 trillion won by 2026, with 179 trillion won of them being poured at home. The new announcement is part of the domestic investment pla

Industry Sept. 14, 2022

BERLIN -- At this year’s IFA trade show in Berlin, the world’s top two TV makers -- Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics -- both stressed that they will focus on upgrading the user experience and not the hardware itself. The South Korean tech rivals said they aimed to meet different consumer demands, especially those of younger generations, by offering more diverse products like a rotating TV for horizontal viewing or a bendable TV for gamers. Their emphasis on user experience is a

Technology Sept. 10, 2022

BERLIN – Samsung Electronics will focus on upgrading foldable phones and enhancing their user experience for now, despite their extensive study on diverse smartphone form factors such as rollable and slide types, according to a senior executive who oversees research and development for mobile devices. “Technically, we are studying all form factors. But now our top priority is upgrading the current foldable phones,” Choi Won-joon, executive vice president and R＆D head of the mo

Technology Sept. 4, 2022

BERLIN – LG Electronics, the dominant No. 1 firm in the OLED TV market, said Saturday it aims to further widen its gap with rivals by offering a more diversified product lineup that meets different consumer demands. According to market tracker Omdia, Europe is the largest OLED TV market, making up more than 50 percent of global shipments. In the region, LG’s market share was a whopping 65.8 percent in the first half of this year, followed by Sony with 17 percent and Philips with 11

Technology Sept. 4, 2022

BERLIN – Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-hee on Thursday hinted that the South Korean tech giant will unveil a new sustainable growth strategy soon, possibly its delayed decision to join the RE100 global initiative. “We will announce a clearer goal that is also achievable,” he said at a press conference in Berlin held on the sidelines of the IFA trade show that kicks off Friday. The RE100 initiative sets a 2050 target for using 100 percent renewable electricity. Samsung's

Technology Sept. 2, 2022

BERLIN – Samsung Electronics is betting big on its SmartThings smart home platform, declaring that a connected home is now a reality that creates new value for users. “This year will mark the beginning of mass adoption of SmartThings,” said Han Jong-hee, Samsung's co-CEO who oversees the smartphone and home appliance businesses at a press conference held on the sidelines of the IFA trade show that kicks off in Berlin on Friday. The SmartThings platform aims to connect not ju

Technology Sept. 2, 2022

BERLIN/SEOUL – LG Electronics on Thursday debuted the world’s first refrigerator that changes color at the touch of a smartphone button ahead of the IFA trade show that kicks off Friday in Berlin. The chameleon four-door fridge MoodUp is a newest addition to LG’s high-end Objet Collection. The self-illuminating doors use light sources from light-emitting diodes. Users can choose one among some 170,000 color combinations, based on the 22 color options for top doors and 19 choi

Technology Sept. 1, 2022

BERLIN -- IFA, Europe’s biggest tech show, is being held in person again after two years of pandemic disruptions, with South Korean tech rivals Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics among the largest exhibitors. The annual gathering will kick off in Berlin on Friday for a five-day run. After years of virtual business meetings and product launches, there may be skepticism about attending a giant face-to-face business event in this enduring pandemic era. But the IFA is ready to host more

Technology Sept. 1, 2022

LG Energy Solution said Monday it is building a new 5.1 trillion won ($4.4 billion) electric vehicle battery plant in the US in a joint venture partnership with Japanese auto giant Honda -- the first of its kind signed between a Korean battery maker and a Japanese carmaker. The world’s second-largest EV battery maker held a signing ceremony of the new deal in Seoul later in the day, with LG Energy Solution CEO Kwon Young-soo and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe in attendance. The plant, with an

Technology Aug. 29, 2022

South Korean tech rivals Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are heading to Berlin this week to show off their latest home appliances, including flagship TVs, during the IFA trade show that kicks off Friday (local time). Keen interest is being paid to whether Samsung will showcase its latest OLED TVs during the annual gathering. After a nearly nine-year hiatus, Samsung started rolling out OLED TVs early this year, but no high-profile promotional event has been held, raising speculation abou

Technology Aug. 29, 2022

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it celebrated the completion of the Reinvent the Toilet project that has been conducted over the past three years in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation launched the “RT” project in 2011 with an aim to generate innovative solutions that can protect people and communities from human waste-borne pathogens and help underdeveloped countries deliver more inclusive sanitation services that reach the poorest co

Technology Aug. 25, 2022

Samsung SDS said Thursday it is joining a post-quantum cryptography project led by a cybersecurity center at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the US, along with a slew of global tech firms like Amazon Web Service, Cisco and Microsoft. The project, called Migration to PQC or post-quantum cryptography, aims to replace the current cryptographic algorithms, especially public-key cryptography, to better protect digital information in the era of quantum computing. Once access

Technology Aug. 25, 2022

LG Group said Wednesday it is launching a new artificial intelligence ethics group later this year with an aim to build more responsible AI systems and their deployment across all LG companies. Ahead of its official launch, LG AI Research, the group's AI research hub, recently set up a task force to be charged with educating LG employees to better understand AI ethics and evaluating ethical risks related to privacy, bias and fairness before product development. The upcoming ethics group

Technology Aug. 24, 2022

Samsung Electronics continued its winning streak in global TV sales, selling nearly one-third of TVs across the world in the first half, according to market tracker Omdia on Tuesday. In the first six months of this year, 92.6 million units of TVs, worth $475 million, were sold globally. The sales figure was down 6.6 percent compared to a year ago. Omdia cited the Russia-Ukraine war, protracted lockdowns in China’s major cities and inflation fears as the key reasons behind the slowing T

Technology Aug. 23, 2022

Samsung Electronics said Monday it is unveiling a wider lineup of its Bespoke home appliances at the upcoming IFA trade show in Germany in a renewed sales push in the European market. The Bespoke brand, launched in 2019, has revamped Samsung’s home appliance strategy. Its unique modular concept allows users to customize the material, color, size and door configurations of home appliances. Its flagship refrigerator has seen almost 2 million unit sales worldwide since its debut in 2019,

Technology Aug. 22, 2022