EXEM posts record-high fiscal year 2020 results

EXEM, a South Korean IT company, reported its best performance ever in the fiscal year 2020 that ended on Dec. 31. EXEM recently announced that consolidated sales reached 39.2 billion won ($34.8 million) last year, up by 14 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit and net profit rose 53 percent and 79 percent to 9.6 billion won and 8.7 billion won, respectively. “We have been able to achieve a record-high performance based on our accumulated DBPM, APM core technology plus a solid b

March 31, 2021

LG Energy, Samsung SDI among top 3 in 2020 smartphone battery market: report

South Korea's two major battery makers -- LG Energy Solution Ltd. and Samsung SDI Co. -- were ranked in the top three in the global smartphone battery market last year, a report showed Wednesday. LG Energy Solution, a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Chem Ltd., had a revenue share of 26 percent to rank second in the worldwide smartphone battery market in 2020, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. Samsung SDI, an affiliate of the world's largest smartphone maker Samsung Electronics C

March 31, 2021

SK hynix appoints Park Jung-ho as co-CEO

SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho, who is also the chief of SK Telecom, has been appointed as the chipmaker’s co-CEO at its board meeting Tuesday, the firm said. As co-CEO, Park will assume the role of building the corporate culture and leading establishment of long-term strategies for the chipmaker to strengthen global competitiveness and find new growth opportunities. Current CEO Lee Seok-hee will be responsible for development, investment and operation to strengthen technology and

March 30, 2021

Samsung, LG TVs support faster connectivity with Wi-Fi 6E

Newest TV models by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have been certified for Wi-Fi 6E technologies, the first in the global TV industry, according to the companies on Tuesday. Samsung said its 2021 Neo QLED 8K TV models have earned the world’s first Wi-Fi 6E certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi 6E, a new standard in connected technology, offers four times faster connectivity based on stable and reliable data transfers – even when multiple devices are connected t

March 30, 2021

[Newsmaker] Korea pins high hopes on ‘K-syringes’

Despite taking an early leadership in COVID-19 diagnosis and epidemic response, South Korea has been months behind in the global race to either develop vaccines or secure jabs already developed and inoculate its citizens. While playing catch-up, the government is hoping to draw attention to its achievements elsewhere -- their syringes. Low dead-space syringes, which local firm PoongLim Pharmatech developed in partnership with the government, has allowed the country to inoculate 1,880 more p

March 30, 2021

Celltrion’s sales of COVID-19 treatment to reach W1.2tr: report

Sales of Celltrion’s COVID-19 treatment could reach 1.2 trillion won ($1.06 billion) this year, a local securities firm said Monday. According to a report from Hana Financial Investment, sales of Celltrion’s COVID-19 antibody treatment CT-P59 are expected to increase since Celltrion received a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency last week for its monoclonal antibody treatment candidate. But the report said Celltrion’s production capacity for the d

March 30, 2021

KAIST unveils deepfake-detecting mobile app

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said Tuesday its research team launched the country's first mobile app that detects deepfakes -- images or videos digitally manipulated with artificial intelligence (AI) -- to curb misinformation and prevent potential harm to victims targeted by the technology. The software, named KaiCatch, can accurately detect deepfakes by using AI technology that recognizes abnormal distortions in a subject's face in images, according to KAIST, S

March 30, 2021

Magnachip to be sold to Chinese fund

Magnachip, spun off from South Korea’s SK hynix and listed on the US stock market, has been sold to a Chinese private equity fund, according to industry sources Monday. The chipmaker will be acquired by China’s Wise Road Capital for 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) according to the company announcement. All of the shares will be sold to the Chinese fund at $29 per share with a 75 percent premium, which is estimated to be $1.4 billion. “The latest deal will not only bring

March 29, 2021

Galaxy S21 smartphone sales top 1m units in S. Korea

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday that domestic sales of its new flagship smartphone series, the Galaxy S21, surpassed 1 million units last week. The South Korean tech giant said the S21, which was released here on Jan. 29, achieved the milestone 57 days after its launch, about one-month faster than its predecessor the S20. But the pace of S21 sales was slower than the S10, which topped the 1 million mark in 47 days in 2019. Samsung has been introducing new Galaxy S devices in mid-February

March 29, 2021

Samsung maintains top spot in Gulf smartphone market in Q4: report

Samsung Electronics Co. maintained its leading position in the smartphone market of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in the fourth quarter of 2020, a report showed Monday, although its gap with Apple Inc. has narrowed. The smartphone shipments in the Gulf region grew 2.3 percent on-quarter to 4.26 million units in the last three months of 2020, and Samsung accounted for 42 percent of them, according to market tracker International Data Corp. (IDC). Samsung's market share was down from

March 29, 2021

Samsung reclaims No. 1 spot in Feb. smartphone sales: report

Samsung Electronics Co. reclaimed the top spot in global smartphone sales in February, a report showed Monday, after it narrowly beat Apple Inc. on the back of the early release of the Galaxy S21 series. Samsung shipped 24 million units of smartphones for a 23.1 percent market share last month, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics, outpacing Apple which sold 23 million units for a 22.2 percent share. China's Xioami came in third with an 11.5 percent share, followed by Vivo with 10

March 29, 2021

LIG Nex1 CEO calls for need of Korea’s own GPS

Korea will need its own global positioning system, dubbed KPS, for the sake of the country’s national security as well as space industry development, said Kim Ji-chan, chief executive officer of LIG Nex1. “Without the country’s own satellite navigation system, Korea relies heavily on the GPS developed by the United States,” Kim told a meeting on Korea’s space development plan attended by President Moon Jae-in Thursday. LIG Nex1 is a leading defense technology

March 28, 2021

SK Innovation considers all options including withdrawal from US

Calling the punishment by the United States’ trade watchdog “catastrophic and a harm to public interest,” South Korean battery maker SK Innovation said it was considering all options, including abandonment of its $2.7 billion manufacturing facilities in the US state of Georgia. In its latest appeal to the US International Trade Commission, SK Innovation alluded to halting the ongoing construction of its second battery manufacturing plant in Commerce City, Georgia, as well as

March 28, 2021

Celltrion founder’s two sons appointed as executive directors

Celltrion Group saw a generation shift in its leadership as the founder and honorary chairman stepped down from his official posts and his two sons obtained seats in key affiliates’ boardrooms, following a decision made at shareholders meetings Friday. The founder’s first son Seo jin-seok has been appointed as an executive director at Celltrion, filling an empty seat left behind after the founder stepped down from the chairman post in December. Second son Seo Joon-serk was also sepa

March 26, 2021

Samsung, Marvell develops new System-on-a-Chip for 5G networks

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it has developed a new System-on-a-Chip (SoC) that can improve the performance of 5G networks in collaboration with US chip designer Marvell Technology Ltd. The South Korean tech giant said the new SoC will be used in the company's network equipment, such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and other radios, and plans to introduce the product in the second quarter of the year. An SoC refers to an integrated circuit that integrates entire or most

March 26, 2021

Samsung Display dominates 2020 smartphone panel market with 50% share

Samsung Display Co. dominated the global smartphone display panel market last year, a report showed Friday, as it posted record revenue amid the pandemic. The affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone producer, represented half of the worldwide smartphone panel market last year in terms of revenue, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. The global smartphone display panel market grew 7 percent on-year to $43 billion in 2020. Samsung Display was follow

March 26, 2021

Implications of Intel's foundry bid on Asia: 'US is getting back its chips'

Intel’s plan to reenter the foundry business could be an indication of reshoring chip manufacturing back to the US, a key strategic move that would have ramifications on the local economy, which depends largely on chip sales. After announcing the plan to spend $20 billion on building two new fabrication plants in Arizona, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told BBC, “Having 80 percent of all supply in Asia simply isn’t a palatable manner for the world to have its view of the most crit

March 25, 2021

LG Chem chief vows to get due compensation from SK

Shin Hak-cheol, chief executive and vice chairman of LG Chem, on Thursday vowed to get proper compensation from SK Innovation for stealing its battery technologies. “We can’t easily let go of this case for the general good of global companies that are developing technologies on the belief of fair competition and clients who make purchases on the belief they were lawfully made,” Shin said at the company’s general shareholders meeting held at the headquarters building in

March 25, 2021

GC Wellbeing drug material for cancer cachexia shows efficacy

GC Wellbeing announced Thursday that GCWB204, its new drug material for treating cancer cachexia, has shown efficacy in preventing muscle reduction. GC Wellbeing, jointly with the convergence medical team led by professor Woo Dong-cheol of Asan Medical Center, published the results of the research in global academic journal Metabolomics, according to the company. The joint research team focused on analyzing the effects of GCWB204 on main biomarkers from animal samples that underwent muscle

March 25, 2021

SK Telecom eyes governance improvement to boost shareholder value

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest wireless carrier, said Thursday it will revamp its governance structure this year in a way that boosts shareholder value. CEO Park Jung-ho told shareholders that the company will announce changes to its governance structure "soon," admitting its share price has remained largely lackluster despite its strong earnings last year. "Our market cap does not properly reflect the value of our subsidiaries and businesses," Park said in an annual

March 25, 2021