Samsung Electronics’ share in European smartphone market advanced slightly in the fourth quarter last year, benefiting from rival Huawei Technologies’ struggle with a US trade ban, data showed. 　The South Korean tech giant had a 27 percent market share, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. 　The world’s largest smartphone maker apparently enlarged its presence after Huawei was barred from installing Google ser

Kakao founder and Chairman Kim Beom-su has pledged to donate his stocks worth 2 billion won to help combat the nationwide spread of COVID-19, the firm said Wednesday. The company will also separately match the amount. Kim has decided to give 1,100 stocks, based on the day’s closing price, amounting to around 1.97 billion won. Details of where and how the donations will be delivered are yet to be announced. South Korea’s leading online company has been encouraging relief activit

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

Samsung SDS has signed a memorandum of understanding with Credorax, an Israel-based fintech and smart payments provider to nations in the European Union and European Economic Area, according to the company on Wednesday. The two companies will cooperate on Samsung SDS’ Nexledger Universal platform to develop a blockchain-based finance solution for bank and merchants so they can automatically reconcile payments, remittances and invoices with their bank records. The partners also aim to d

Samsung Biologics announced Wednesday that it has signed a partnership deal with STCube for the development and manufacturing of STT-003, an anti-cancer immunotherapy candidate. STT-003, developed by STCube’s research center in Maryland, is a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor whose anti-cancer effects are anticipated to be more effective than the conventional PD-1/PD-L1 therapies. The US-based company is planning to submit an investigational new drug submission of the STT-003 antibody i

Korean botulinum toxin makers Medytox and Daewoong Pharmaceutical exchanged fire once again on Wednesday, both claiming to have the upper hand in winning the US International Trade Commission suit. Medytox issued a press release in the morning saying that during the hearing of the suit from Feb. 4-7, the USITC’s staff attorney sided with the allegations that Daewoong had indeed used Medytox’s trade secret BTX. If this is reflected in the final decision, Daewoong’s US partne

South Korea’s mask exports to China soared in January when the Wuhan coronavirus began to spread, reaching the same level as annual total of last year, according to data by the Korea International Trade Association on Wednesday. Exports of miscellaneous textile products -- which mainly include masks -- in January amounted to $72.61 million. This is 8.8 times higher than the $82.96 million in exports in the same month last year and 89.7 percent of the $89.16 million, which was the annual

Following a sharp drop in the number of passengers and route suspensions due to spread of COVID-19, South Korean air carriers are flying smaller planes while parking their unused aircrafts within the airport facilities, according to industry sources Wednesday.  Full-service carrier Korean Air said that it would reduce the number of seats on its Incheon-Los Angeles route from 407 to 277 by switching from the A380-8 aircraft to the smaller B777-300 until March 14.  Asiana Airlines has

LG Display, Samsung Display start to downsize LCD business, expansion of OLED hampered by coronavirus spread

Japanese auto brands hit hard

Health Ministry delays law to stop celebrities from promoting alcohol

Nearly two-thirds of foreign firms in South Korea expect their sales to drop due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, a poll showed Wednesday. The survey of 150 foreign-invested corporations showed 67.3 percent of the respondents anticipating a decline in their shipments due to the fast-spreading epidemic. The survey was conducted on foreign firms with a workforce of 100 or more between Feb. 17 and 21 by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), the research arm of the Federation of Ko

South Korea’s 5-trillion-won ($4.2 billion) plastic surgery industry is bleeding Chinese demand amidst the worsening coronavirus outbreak. The Korea Health Industry Development Institute said that Chinese patients are canceling plastic surgeries while the Ministry of Health and Welfare is recommending hospitals to delay their medical services to foreigners after February to curb the COVID-19 outbreak. “After monitoring whether major hospitals and plastic surgery clinics are foll

Korea’s Drug Ministry approves clinical trial of remdesivir for Seoul, Daegu

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