South Korean telecom carrier KT is reportedly set to carry out an organizational revamp focused on artificial intelligence while elevating profitability and efficiency, according to industry sources Monday. KT plans to hold a board meeting on Tuesday, with organizational restructuring and personnel relocation likely topping the agenda. The board is expected to approve the establishment of two subsidiaries dedicated to network operation and maintenance, KT OSP and KT P&M, to start operation f

Industry Oct. 14, 2024

As global carmakers rush to make the costly transition to carbon-free electric vehicles, Park Jeong-min, CEO of the Seoul-based startup JM.Wave, asks, “What about the remaining internal combustion engine cars?” The 7-year-old company holds the "repowering technology" that converts vehicles with internal combustion engines into EVs. It is also the first to get regulatory sandbox approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport after passing a safety verificat

Technology Oct. 13, 2024

German technology firm Merck said Thursday it has opened its latest spin-on-dielectric (SOD) application center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province in a bid to respond quickly to its customer needs here. The company held the opening ceremony of the latest facility at the production site that same day. Attendees include senior executives of Merck and its key clients, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The new facility, the second of its kind in Asia, is equipped with advanced technology for measuring an

Industry Oct. 11, 2024

South Korean mobile carrier KT Corp. said Thursday it will team up with US tech giant Microsoft to develop a new artificial intelligence model tailored to the Korean language and culture within the first half of next year. KT CEO Kim Young-shub presented its vision at the event and announced the goal of jointly developing a Korea-specific AI and cloud model aligned with Microsoft’s objectives. “Microsoft is well aware of Korea's significance in the global information and communi

Technology Oct. 10, 2024

After the July launch of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Ring, several tech rivals have jumped into the smart ring race. But rumors are rampant that Apple may have scrapped its long-held plan for its own ring possibly to focus on the Apple Watch. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple has no plans to release an Apple smart ring despite two decades of research into the product. "Apple isn't actively developing a ring and has no plans to launch one," the report said. &ldq

Industry Oct. 9, 2024

LG Electronics on Tuesday expected its third-quarter sales to reach an all-time high of 22.17 trillion won ($16.5 billion), outpacing an earlier market consensus of 21.77 trillion won. But its operating profits during the same period were estimated to have plunged nearly 21 percent to 751.1 billion won from a year ago, largely due to rising logistics and marketing costs. The earnings guidance was far lower than market expectations. FnGuide, a local market intelligence firm, projected the compa

Industry Oct. 8, 2024

Samsung Electronics predicted Tuesday that its operating profit for the July-September period would miss market expectations due to a slow recovery in memory demand and the lackluster performance of High Bandwidth Memory chips used in artificial intelligence computing. Samsung's third-quarter operating profit is estimated to hit 9.1 trillion won ($6.76 billion), up 274.5 percent from a year ago, according to the company’s earnings guidance. The figure is lower than the 10.77 trillio

Industry Oct. 8, 2024

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the production base of multilayer ceramic capacitors for Samsung Electro-Mechanics, the electronic parts manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, in Calamba, Philippines, Sunday, according to the tech giant on Monday. The chairman reviewed business strategies and stressed the importance of taking advantage of opportunities arising from expanding markets such as artificial intelligence, robots and electric vehicles. Lee also discussed futur

Industry Oct. 7, 2024

Apple’s latest flagship smartphone series -- the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max -- debuted in Korea on Sept. 20 as the US tech giant included the country among the first regions for its newest phones’ launch. Since the first iPhone debuted here in 2009, it marks the first time that Korea has been included in the list of the first countries to have new iPhones. Despite the early release, Korean sales remain lukewarm. Coupang, a major online seller, saw

Technology Oct. 2, 2024

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo convened a strategy meeting Wednesday to discuss mid- to long-term management directions with some 40 top executives at LG companies. The meeting, held at LG Inwhawon in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, began with a discussion on strategies to navigate and respond to the rapidly changing business environment. LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan introduced key examples of the tech giant’s customer-centric management system, which has been a core focus over the past three

Industry Sept. 27, 2024

A Seoul court on Friday rejected American hedge fund Elliott’s payment claims for its alleged losses in the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T Corp. and Cheil Industries. Elliott, then a minority stakeholder in Samsung C&T, opposed the merger deal and received 72.4 billion won ($54.9 million) in 2022 from the de facto holding unit of Samsung Group for not exercising its appraisal rights. In October last year, however, the activist fund filed a lawsuit claiming an additional 26.7 b

Industry Sept. 27, 2024

SK Broadband said Thursday it is introducing an internet protocol television service using artificial intelligence to offer more tailored content to users. The internet service provider's IPTV platform B tv newly applies SK Telecom's AI assistant service A., allowing users to easily find desired content beyond IPTV to include streaming services, YouTube and the web through voice controls. At Thursday’s event, SK unveiled the AI 4 vision, an AI set-top box equipped with the B tv A

Industry Sept. 26, 2024

SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip-maker, said Thursday it has started mass production of the world’s first 12-layer high bandwidth memory chips, solidifying its competitive edge over its global rivals -- Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology. The new 36-gigabit 12-layer HBM3E chip will be supplied to its customers, including US AI chip giant Nvidia, within the year, about six months after delivering an 8-layer HBM3E product to customers for the first time in the ind

Technology Sept. 26, 2024

LG Innotek said Wednesday that it has developed the industry’s first artificial intelligence that detects defective raw materials for its chip substrates. The new system, combining AI-based material information and image processing technologies, has already been adopted for the company’s production process. More recently, it has been used to upgrade the product quality of value-added chip substrates, including the flip-chip ball grid array. With chip substrates becoming increasingly

Technology Sept. 25, 2024

Samsung Electronics and the nation’s top five lenders have collaborated to create a 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) fund to support small and medium-sized companies struggling to meet toughening carbon regulations at home and in overseas markets. On Tuesday, the tech giant, together with the nation’s top five financial groups and the Financial Supervisory Service, vowed to offer low-interest rates on loans to smaller businesses seeking to invest in low-emissions facilities, equipment o

Industry Sept. 24, 2024