Samsung Electronics Co. has successfully completed its first 5G standalone (SA) trial with Deutsche Telekom AG, according to the company, as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence in the European 5G telecommunications market. Samsung and Deutsche Telekom, Europe's leading telecom service operator, conducted their first 5G SA trial in Pilsen, the Czech Republic, verifying performance of 5G SA multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) technologies, Samsung said late

Samsung Electronics Co. dropped to the second spot in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2020, a report showed Thursday, as Apple Inc. outshined other companies on the back of its new iPhone 12 series. Samsung shipped 73.9 million smartphones in the October-December period, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier, for a market share of 19.2 percent, according to market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). Apple was the top performer in the fourth quarter after shipping 90.1

LS Electric Co. on Thursday reported its 2020 net profit of 85.5 billion won ($76.6 million), down 17 percent from a year earlier. Operating income for the year was 133.7 billion won, down 20.7 percent on-year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Annual revenue rose 2.4 percent to 2.4 trillion won. (Yonhap)

LS Electric Co. on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 21.2 billion won ($19 million), up 64.8 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 32.6 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 43.2 billion won a year ago. Revenue fell 12.7 percent to 610.2 billion won. The operating profit was 18.0 percent lower than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency

Honda Korea Co., the South Korean unit of Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co., said Thursday it will focus on reviving lackluster sales this year by launching new gasoline hybrid models amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic. Honda Korea has launched the new all-wheel CR-V hybrid SUV and the upgraded Accord hybrid sedan to regain a share in the Korean market, where its sales plunged 65 percent to 3,056 vehicles last year from 8,760 a year earlier. "We are targeting to sell 3,000 hybrid mod

South Korea's oceans ministry said Thursday the country's shipping segment is expected to recover its sales to the levels before the industrywide slump a few years ago. The combined sales of the local shipping industry could reach 40 trillion won ($36.2 billion) this year, compared with 36 trillion won tallied the previous year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Sales of the country's shipping industry came to 39 trillion won in 2015, but they sharply lost ground in the follow

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday said it aims to clinch merger and acquisition (M&A) deals and expand investments in the upcoming years as the South Korean tech giant eyes to fend off challenges from its rivals amid global uncertainties In its conference call, Samsung's chief finance officer Choi Yoon-ho said the company will actively use its cash to expand facility investments and pursue M&A deals in a bid to solidify its market-leading position and beef up its future growth. "

South Korea said Thursday it has launched a project to build a new ship equipped with the latest devices to explore deep-sea resources. Under the project, the country will spend 190 billion won ($172 million) to build the 6,000-ton vessel, named the Tamhae 3, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The project first kicked off in 2018. The envisioned ship, which is to be constructed by Hanjin Heavy Industries Co. in cooperation with the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Minera

Retail sales in South Korea rose 5.5 percent on-year in 2020 due to strong gains from the online segment in sync with the social distancing policy amid the unprecedented virus pandemic. The combined sales of local online shops shot up 18.4 percent in 2020 from the previous year, while those of offline stores fell 3.6 percent, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Among offline stores, convenience stores were the sole winners, with their sales advancing 2

SsangYong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Thursday that its Indian parent company is still in talks to sell its controlling stake, denying media reports that the deal has fallen through. SsangYong Motor made the statement in response to media reports that Mahindra and HAAH Automotive Holdings, Inc., a California company that imports vehicles for the US market, have failed to reach a compromise for the deal and notified SsangYong's main cred

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Thursday it will launch a content production company to serve as the company's overarching control tower for its growing media businesses. The mobile carrier said KT Studio Genie will oversee planning and distribution of media content developed by its range of media services, from its video streaming platform Seezn to internet protocol Olleh TV. KT added that it also plans to develop original content based on works from its webcomic unit St

　South Korea’s data industry expanded more than 14 percent in 2020 from a year earlier to exceed the 19 trillion-won level, a survey showed. 　The local market for data stood at 19.3 trillion won ($17.4 billion) last year, up 14.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the survey by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Data Agency. 　Last year’s growth rate was much higher than the 8.3 percent on-year increase posted a year earlier. 　Data sales and provision accounte

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it will pay record dividends to shareholders later this year and more through 2023 to improve its shareholder value, a move that is also seen to smooth out leadership succession for Samsung Group heirs. Samsung will pay a total of a record 13.12 trillion won ($11.8 billion) in dividends to shareholders for the 2020 fiscal year in April, the tech giant said. "The board approved a one-time special cash dividend of 10.7 trillion won," the company sa

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top wireless carrier, said Thursday it has joined hands with local defense company Hanwha Systems Co., Korea Airports Corp. and the Korea Transport Institute to speed up development of urban air mobility (UAM) services. Last year, South Korea unveiled its plan to commercialize UAM services by 2025 to help overcome urban traffic congestion by using unmanned drone taxis. SK Telecom said they will work together to develop the infrastructure and aircraft required for

Samsung raises dividends to W9.8tr until 2023, prepares for sizeable M&A