Naver to cancel W400b of treasury shares to prop up value

South Korean portal giant Naver announced Monday it will buy back and cancel shares worth 400 billion won ($306 million) by the end of the year to boost its declining stock value. The latest measure will be separate from the ongoing shareholder return policy the company introduced in 2023, spanning three years. “From Oct. 2 to Dec. 28, we will repurchase about 2,347,500 shares which accounts for 1.5 percent of the total issued shares, and cancel them by Dec. 31," Naver said. "Giv

Sept. 30, 2024

Kakao to unveil Nvidia partnership at conference next month

South Korean IT giant Kakao will unveil its new artificial intelligence service Kanana at the upcoming developers conference next month, the company said Monday. Holding the annual event dubbed "if kakaoAI 2024" from Oct. 22-24, the company will also announce its AI partnership with Nvidia, the leading graphic processor unit maker, Kakao said. On the first day of the event, Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a will deliver a keynote speech on Kakao's AI road map and Chief AI Officer Lee Sang-ho

Sept. 30, 2024

KT and Microsoft to develop AI models for Korea

South Korean mobile carrier KT has forged a five-year, multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft to develop customized artificial intelligence solutions for Korea and to build a tech innovation center, the company said Sunday. Signing the agreement at the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, Friday, the two sides agreed to collaborate in the areas of AI, cloud technologies and information technology, and for Microsoft to commit its resources in the areas of infrastructure and peop

Sept. 29, 2024

LG chairman urges to “aim higher” at CEO workshop

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

Sept. 27, 2024

SK hynix outpaces Samsung, Micron with more powerful AI chips

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

Sept. 26, 2024

LG Innotek develops AI-powered materials monitoring system

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

Sept. 25, 2024

[Exclusive] Texas development exec shuts down layoff rumors at Samsung chip plant

Amid growing uncertainties about the timely operation of Samsung Electronics' $40 billion semiconductor fabrication plant in Taylor, Texas, regional economic development chiefs in the state dismissed downsizing rumors, saying construction would be completed by mid-2025. “There was a recent story that workers left, but Samsung every two years recycles in other employees. So the employees there came back to Korea, and they have a new group of employees or construction workers on site,&r

Sept. 25, 2024

Middle East’s big AI push lures Korean tech firms

In the wake of the artificial intelligence boom, Korean tech giants are seen swiftly expanding their foothold in the Middle East, where countries are turning their eyes to AI as a hedge to diversify their oil-centric economies. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the world’s leading chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., were reviewing the notion of building new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the United Arab Emirates in the comin

Sept. 23, 2024

SK hynix applies CXL optimization solution to Linux

SK hynix said Monday it has introduced the main features of its heterogeneous memory software development kit, a self-developed memory control solution that optimizes the operation of Compute Express Link, or CXL, a next-generation memory technology, to Linux, the world’s largest open-source operating system. CXL is a next-generation interface that supports large-capacity and ultra-high-speed computations by efficiently connecting the central processing unit, graphics processing unit and m

Sept. 23, 2024

Samsung develops 1st all-solid-state battery

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, the electronic parts manufacturing subsidiary of the chip giant Samsung Electronics, has developed the world’s first all-solid-state battery for wearable devices, industry sources said Monday. According to sources, the company made an all-solid-state battery prototype with an energy density of 200 watt-hours per liter. It is slated for mass production in 2026. All-solid-state batteries are rechargeable batteries with solid electrolytes filling the gap between the

Sept. 23, 2024

Xiaomi takes 2nd spot after Samsung in August smartphone sales

Chinese smartphone makers are swiftly growing their presence in the global market, taking over the entry-to-mid-tier segment while creating a buzz with unique premium models to narrow the competitive gap with top players Samsung and Apple. In August, Chinese firm Xiaomi claimed second in terms of global monthly sell-through volumes for the first time in three years, beating Apple, market tracker Counterpoint Research said Thursday. Samsung Electronics retained the top spot. August is usually see

Sept. 20, 2024

Samsung under pressure after Intel's foundry spin-off: analysts

Intel, once the world’s leader in both designing and supplying advanced chips, has decided to spin off its chip manufacturing business in part of the efforts to recover from massive losses. For Samsung Electronics, the rival’s spin-off could pose a threat if successful, according to experts here on Thursday. At the same time, Intel’s decision is raising a strategic question for Samsung on how to stay competitive across all fronts of chip design and manufacturing as an integrate

Sept. 19, 2024

Samsung chief travels to France to encourage young talents

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong traveled to France to attend the closing ceremony of WorldSkills Lyon 2024, the world’s largest skill championship, in a bid to show support to young talents, the company said Wednesday. Presenting the medals and meeting with Korean competitors at the closing ceremony on Sunday, Lee reiterated the company's commitment to helping youth in their vocational training. "The sweat of the young talents is the foundation of South Korea, a technol

Sept. 18, 2024

Naver to develop Arabic-based LLM, expand AI cooperation with Saudi Arabia

Naver Corp., the operator of South Korea's largest internet platform, has signed an initial agreement with Saudi Arabia's artificial intelligence (AI) agency to jointly develop an Arabic language-based large language model (LLM), company officials said Friday. During the Global AI Summit hosted by the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh earlier this week, Naver and the SDAIA signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in various

Sept. 13, 2024

Samsung’s yearly dilemma looms: Exynos vs. Snapdragon

A seasonal dilemma looms over Samsung Electronics’ flagship Galaxy S phones: using more its own Exynos processors or sticking to rival Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips. Samsung has poured considerable resources for years into equipping its most important smartphone lineup with its own chipset so that it could expand its presence not just in chip production but also in chip design, while reducing production costs. But industry sources say that the upcoming Galaxy S phones, tentatively call

Sept. 12, 2024

Nvidia CEO hints at possibility using Samsung to make GPUs

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang raised the possibility of fabricating its cutting-edge graphic processing units at foundries other than Taiwan-based TSMC, making Samsung Electronics a likely alternative. At Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, Huang said he is willing to consider other companies to produce Nvidia's chips "if necessary," acknowledging the brewing geopolitical tension between Taiwan and China. "We use them (TSM

Sept. 12, 2024

Samsung produces industry’s first 1-terabit QLC 9th-gen V-NAND

Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 memory chipmaker, said Thursday it has begun mass production of its one-terabit quad-level cell ninth-generation vertical NAND, solidifying its leadership in the high-capacity and high-performance NAND flash market. It is the industry’s first mass production of QLD ninth-generation V-NAND, followed by its first triple-level cell ninth-generation V-NAND production in April this year. “Kicking off the successful mass production of QLC ninth-g

Sept. 12, 2024

[Photo News] Glimpse into SKT's AI strategy

SK Telecom welcomed 35 UCLA eMBA students to its Seoul headquarters on Wednesday, offering an exclusive look into its innovative AI strategies. The nation's top telecom carrier delivered presentations on its AI Pyramid Strategy and outlined plans to expand its global business through the Global Telco AI Alliance – a partnership with global telecom companies focused on advancing AI-powered services. As part of UCLA Anderson School of Management’s International Business Resident

Sept. 12, 2024

US ups pressure on Korea to join China chip curbs

The US is ramping up pressure on South Korea to align with its export control measures against China, urging advanced chips like High Bandwidth Memory be provided only to allies. As additional trade restrictions are expected, experts here say it is important for the Korean government and chipmakers to keep up negotiations to protect Korea's interests. In his latest remark on Tuesday, US Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez called on Korean chipmakers to supply

Sept. 11, 2024

Why does Apple have to pay Ireland $14.4 billion?

LONDON (Reuters) -- Apple lost a long-running court battle with the European Union on Tuesday, resulting in the company being forced to pay 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, as part of a wider crackdown on so-called "sweetheart deals." What happened? In 2016, the European Commission’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager accused Ireland of having granted Apple illegal tax benefits, unfairly diverting investment away from other countries. Both Apple and

Sept. 10, 2024