Industry

  • Chipflation accelerates, Samsung device makers bump up price tags
    Chipflation accelerates, Samsung device makers bump up price tags SEOUL, April 8 (AJP)-Samsung Electronics and other South Korean device makers are raising prices across smartphones, laptops and tablets as a sharp surge in memory costs — driven by artificial intelligence demand — squeezes margins and reshapes the consumer electronics market. Samsung this week lifted prices for key products including laptops and tablets, with some models rising by as much as 900,000 won ($600). The company also raised official prices of several smart April 9, 2026
  • POSCO to directly hire 7,000 subcontractor workers in major labor overhaul
    POSCO to directly hire 7,000 subcontractor workers in major labor overhaul SEOUL, April 08 (AJP) - POSCO has announced a sweeping plan to directly hire around 7,000 subcontractor workers at its steel mills, marking a significant move to address longstanding issues surrounding subcontracting structures in industrial workplaces. The steelmaker said Tuesday it has established a roadmap to directly employ subcontractor workers who support production operations at its Pohang and Gwangyang steel plants. The hiring will be carried out in phases. POSCO has trad April 8, 2026
  • LG Energy Solution sinks deeper into red with second straight quarterly loss
    LG Energy Solution sinks deeper into red with second straight quarterly loss SEOUL, April 07 (AJP) - LG Energy Solution posted a widening operating loss for the first quarter of 2026, marking its second consecutive quarterly deficit as a prolonged slump in global electric vehicle demand and a sharp drop in U.S. tax credits eroded profitability at the world's No. 2 battery maker. The company said in a preliminary regulatory filing on Tuesday that it logged a consolidated operating loss of 207.8 billion won ($138.7 million) for the January to March period, April 7, 2026
  • Samsung vaults into global top tier as AI-driven memory boom turbocharges profits
    Samsung vaults into global top tier as AI-driven memory boom turbocharges profits SEOUL, April 07 (AJP) - Its record-smashing first-quarter earnings that nearly matched the full-year income of its previous peak in 2018 place Samsung Electronics among the world’s top five big tech firms and suggest it could even challenge Nvidia in operating profit if the memory supercycle extends into next year. The company on Tuesday estimated its first-quarter operating profit at 57.2 trillion won ($38.0 billion), nearly tripling its previous quarterly high in the Octo April 7, 2026
  • Nearly 3 million barrels delivered to refiners in first week of oil swap program
    Nearly 3 million barrels delivered to refiners in first week of oil swap program SEOUL, April 7 (AJP) - About 2.8 million barrels of crude oil have been supplied to refiners just a week after the launch of an "oil swap" program, which lends government-owned stockpiles to help them secure alternative supplies, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Tuesday. At a daily briefing at the government complex in the administrative city of Sejong, Yang Gi-uk, a ministry official, said the country's four major refiners had applied to swap more th April 7, 2026
  • LG Electronics Q1 OP beats expectations, sales hit quarterly high
    LG Electronics Q1 OP beats expectations, sales hit quarterly high SEOUL, April 07 (AJP) - LG Electronics on Tuesday estimated stronger-than-expected operating profit and record three-month sales in the quarter ended March thanks to its premium lineup and steady growth in business-to-business segments despite tariff pressure in the U.S. and weak Korean won. In its preliminary earnings guidance, the company reported an operating profit at 1.67 trillion won ($1.24 billion) for the January–March period, up 32.9 percent from a year earlier and April 7, 2026
  • Samsung Electronics Q1 income eclipses full 2025, nears full 2018 peak
    Samsung Electronics Q1 income eclipses full 2025, nears full 2018 peak SEOUL, April 07 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics on Tuesday estimated its operating profit reached a whopping 57.2 trillion won ($42.3 billion) in the January–March period on a surge in memory prices from legacy to AI-supporting high-performance chips, beating not just full-year 2025 earnings but nearing the annual income of the last chip boom year in 2018. In its first-quarter earnings guidance, the South Korean tech giant — spanning chips, smartphones and home appliances April 7, 2026
  • Samsung Q1 profit set to rival full-year earnings on AI chip boom
    Samsung Q1 profit set to rival full-year earnings on AI chip boom SEOUL, April 06 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics is poised to deliver its strongest quarterly reports to date with January-March operating profit expected to approach or exceed full-year earnings for 2025, underscoring the sheer scale of the ongoing memory super-cycle driven by artificial intelligence demand. According to market consensus compiled by FnGuide, the South Korean tech giant is projected to post an average operating profit of 40.5 trillion won ($29.9 billion) for the Januar April 6, 2026
  • South Korea closes gap with China in global shipbuilding orders
    South Korea closes gap with China in global shipbuilding orders SEOUL, April 6 (AJP) - Despite an overall decline in global ship orders, South Korea increased its share last month, narrowing the gap with China, according to data released by London-based Clarkson Research Services on Monday. In March, South Korea won orders totaling 1.59 million compensated gross tons (CGT) for 38 ships, accounting for about 39 percent of the global market, while China secured 2.15 million CGT for 84 ships, taking a 53 percent share. In February, South Korea April 6, 2026
  • GM Korea signals full turnaround as it pays out first regular dividend
    GM Korea signals full turnaround as it pays out first regular dividend SEOUL, April 06 (AJP) - General Motors Korea said it will pay its first regular dividend to shareholders, marking the clearest sign yet that the once-ailing Korean unit of the U.S. automaker has completed a turnaround eight years after its Gunsan plant was shuttered and billions of dollars in public and private capital were mobilized to prevent its collapse. The automaker's board approved an interim dividend on April 3, though the company did not disclose the payout's size i April 6, 2026