SUWON -- Around 400 Samsung Electronics shareholders gathered at a convention center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, to attend the annual meeting with reinforced sanitation efforts amid the coronavirus fears. “I hesitated to participate today because of the coronavirus spread, but had to come to exercise my rights as a shareholder,” said one of the attendees. Amid persisting concerns about the novel coronavirus spread in Korea, the shareholders present at Suwon Convention Center w

It is the third month of 2020, and there are already three new foldable devices available in the market worldwide: the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, Huawei Mate Xs and Motorola Razr. Compared to September, when the world’s first foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold was unveiled and later joined by Huawei’s first product Mate X, the foldable category has taken a leap forward, with the latest products boasting improved durability and performances. In a bid to help potential users get familiar

The United States International Trade Commission said Tuesday that it will open an investigation into global tech giants including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Apple over claims of touch-screen patent violations. The complaint was filed in February by purported Irish “patent troll” Neodron, in which the company claimed that the companies infringed on its patents related to touch-screen devices. It is not the first time Neodron has targeted such global tech firms. Last

Samsung Electronics’ annual forums on its semiconductor foundry business strategy for this year have been postponed due to the new coronavirus pandemic, the tech giant said Monday. The company posted the notice on its forum registration website. The first event of the forums was to be held in California’s Silicon Valley on May 20 and was supposed to kick-start the annual forum series that takes place worldwide, including in China, Japan and Germany. “The forums are pushed

Coupang, South Korea’s leading delivery service provider, has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by a US market researcher in recognition of the firm’s e-commerce technology and logistics service.  According to an announcement by US-based business media brand Fast Company on Tuesday, Coupang was ranked second on its list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2020 for the Asia Pacific region. Korea’s biggest tech firm Samsung Elec

Major tech giants have postponed the launch of their latest smartphone models as the global novel coronavirus outbreak has been classified as a pandemic, according to industry sources Thursday. China’s Huawei Technologies was scheduled to announce its flagship P40 in Paris on March 26, but has decided to cancel the event as the World Health Organization has now labeled the fast spread of the virus as a pandemic. As of Thursday morning, France reported 2,281 COVID-19 infections and 48 d

Samsung’s compliance monitoring committee, led by former Justice Kim Ji-hyung, has advised the conglomerate’s heir, Lee Jae-yong, and seven affiliates to apologize to the public for past wrongdoing in connection with the group’s leadership succession plans, it said Wednesday. According to a statement released by the committee, it sent a letter setting forth its recommendations to Vice Chairman Lee and the affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T and Samsung

South Korean tech firms said Tuesday they are gearing up for the commercialization of 5G services in Japan with plans to roll out latest smartphone models as SoftBank Telecom is set to launch operations this month. Samsung Electronics is likely to launch the Galaxy S20 lineup, introducing 5G phones for the first time in Japan. SoftBank will be the first Japanese mobile carrier to launch 5G services on March 27, with other Japanese carriers like NTT and KDDI are also planning to launch soon.

Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology said Tuesday unveiled its study on longer-lasting all-solid-state battery technology for the first time in Nature Energy, one of the world’s leading scientific journals. All-solid-state batteries, utilizing solid electrolytes, support greater energy density allowing larger capacities, and are safer than current lithium-ion batteries using liquid electrolytes, according to the research arm of Samsung Electronics. The team focused on overcoming th

Samsung Group’s affiliates in Vietnam could take a blow from the entry restrictions on travelers from South Korea imposed by the local government due to the coronavirus spread, according to industry sources Monday. Samsung Display was planning to dispatch around 700 engineers, including some from its subcontractors, to support the ongoing ramp-up at its plant for small and midsized organic light-emitting diode panel modules in Bac Ninh, northern province of Vietnam. The OLED modules pr

LG Chem, a leading lithium-ion battery supplier, seems unlikely to push ahead with plans to spin off its battery business this year, a news report suggested Monday. The report said the company’s task force team responsible for the battery spinoff had concluded last week that it would not be profitable due to various business hurdles and difficult market conditions. The South Korean battery maker said last year in a regulatory filing that the company was seeking to enhance the competit

Amid the ceaseless spread of the novel coronavirus around the globe, the world’s smartphone market is forecast to witness a contraction in the first half of the year, according to various market reports on Sunday. US-based Counterpoint Research said in its latest report that the global handset market is estimated to shrink 5 percent in the first quarter alone. Strategy Analytics said the volume of smartphone shipments worldwide would decline 10 percent from its initial forecast largel

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has clinched a 5G network supply deal with New Zealand’s largest mobile carrier Spark. The South Korean tech giant said it will help establish Spark’s 5G network later this year with its latest new radio solutions -- including slim and lightweight massive multiple-input and multiple-output units. The equipment provides carriers with more flexible and scalable solutions that are simple and cost-effective to deploy, to accelerate commercial 5G

Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor division has launched its own artificial intelligence research center and is scouting global talent, according to industry sources Wednesday. The new unit under the Device Solutions division has been named Data & Information Technology Center, and is headed by Shim Eun-soo, senior vice president who led AI software research at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. The purpose of the new research body is related to applying AI technologies to

Market figures on Wednesday showed Korean display makers are accelerating their plans to shift their focus from the money-losing liquid crystal display business to the growing organic light-emitting diode industry. But there are worries about those plans being carried out at a slower pace than initially expected due to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus. According to data from IHS Markit, LG Display and Samsung Display came in fourth and fifth place in terms of market share for lar

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday visited the company’s smartphone plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, to encourage employees who are working despite the coronavirus risks in the region. The plant produces Samsung’s latest premium smartphones, including the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip. But with a total of four confirmed cases of coronavirus infections among its employees, it had to shut down twice as of Monday.  Lee, with a face mask, checked

LG employees eat lunch at partitioned tables as a precaution to prevent the spread of COVID-19, at the group’s Twin Towers headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, Tuesday. (LG Corp.)

The semiconductor industry, bellwether for the South Korean economy, showed signs of recovery last month, despite the aggravating coronavirus woes, according to various indicators Tuesday. The country’s total chip exports grew 9.4 percent to $7.42 billion in February compared to the same month last year, data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed. It was the first on-year growth in silicon exports in 15 months. In spite of the extended Chinese Lunar New Year holiday l

Samsung Electronics’ mobile business factory based in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, has confirmed the fourth case of coronavirus infection among its workforce, according to authorities Monday. An office worker at the Gumi site has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the company reported. All of the office rooms on the same floor as the confirmed patient have now been cleared for disinfection. “There is no shutdown of the production lines in the Gumi site as of yet,&r

SK Siltron said Monday it has acquired the silicon carbide wafer business of Michigan-based DuPont to enter the electric vehicle and 5G network markets. The affiliate of SK Group -- the only wafer producer in South Korea -- decided in September to acquire the SiC wafer business from DuPont for 540 billion won ($450 million). The deal was concluded Saturday. SiC wafer is a next-generation chip material that is a compound of silicon and carbon, offering unique electrical and thermal propertie