Samsung Electronics’ Aggressive Sales Efforts to Secure Clients from Taiwan’s TSMC

October 19, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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Following the flood of orders of semiconductors for big tech companies from TSMC, Samsung Electronics expects higher numbers of orders, ramping up sales efforts and local hiring.

Samsung Electronics is expanding its aggressive sales efforts to secure clients from Taiwan’s TSMC, including the recent recruitment of foundry sales staff in San Jose, California.
According to a job posting by Samsung Electronics’ U.S. semiconductor division, the company is recruiting personnel to secure new clients and expand business with existing ones, stating that its foundry business is rapidly expanding.
Samsung Electronics Foundry has recently been pursuing aggressive sales because TSMC has been unable to fully meet the demands of existing customers for advanced-node semiconductor manufacturing, leading to full-fledged spillover effects as TSMC seeks production from Samsung Foundry.

TSMC recently announced its plans to significantly increase production capacity for advanced process nodes. According to Taiwanese media, the company intends to increase its output of 2nm and 3nm semiconductors by about 20% by the first half of next year. It will also manufacture 2nm and 3nm fabs in Phoenix, Arizona and Kumamoto, Japan, with full-scale operations scheduled to begin in the second half of next year.
Samsung Electronics, during its earnings conference call last July, confirmed that “spillover effects were translating into actual orders,” stating that it had secured 2nm projects from a major cloud service providers (CSPs) and AI and high-performance computing (HPC) clients.
Following Nvidia, collaboration with Broadcom, the world’s second-largest fabless company is also increasing the likelihood of securing AI chip orders from big-tech firms. Last July, Samsung Electronics agreed to pursue a partnership with Broadcom valued at over USD 200 billion in the memory and foundry sectors by 2030.
The industry views the next two to three years as the ‘golden time’ that will determine the future of Samsung Foundry. This is because this period is when TSMC’s advanced process fabs are set to begin full-scale operation but before the foundry business of Intel in the United States and Rapidus in Japan are gaining momentum.




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Korea Zinc and LS MnM Expand into Semiconductor Materials

October 19, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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Korea Zinc to expand capacity to 500,000 tons annually

LS MnM expands nickel sulfate production

Korea’s top two smelters, Korea Zinc Inc. and LS MnM Inc. have identified sulfuric acid as a key new growth engine and are actively expanding production. Sulfuric acid can be produced domestically as a byproduct of the zinc and copper smelting process, even without the raw material sulfur.
While sulfuric acid was once primarily used for fertilizer, its territory has recently expanded to include key materials for advanced industries such as semiconductors and batteries. Large quantities of ultra-high-purity sulfuric acid are used in semiconductor manufacturing to wash away impurities from wafers. It is also essential for producing nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate, which are raw materials for battery cathode materials.
According to the smelting industry, Korea Zinc plans to expand its semiconductor cleaning sulfuric acid production line from 280,000 tons to 320,000 tons annually, starting in the second half of this year. This is to proactively respond to the trend of expanding domestic semiconductor investments, such as Samsung Electronics’ construction of additional production lines at its Pyeongtaek site.

Korea Zinc is currently producing 280,000 tons of sulfuric acid for semiconductors annually across 19 lines at the Ulsan Onsan Smelter. The company plans to expand capacity to 500,000 tons per year in the long term. Separately, the company intends to build a production line with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons at the integrated smelter currently under construction in Tennessee, USA, to supply domestic semiconductor companies operating in the United States, starting in 2029.
LS MnM, the only copper-smelting company in Korea, is also benefiting from the soaring sulfuric acid prices. Instead of releasing into the atmosphere the sulfur dioxide gases emitted during the copper smelting process, LS MnM recovers it entirely and converts it into sulfuric acid.
The company plans to use this recovered sulfuric acid in the nickel and cobalt leaching processes at its Onsan battery materials plant, which is scheduled to be completed later this year, to produce nickel sulfate and cobalt sulfate.
As of this month, the spot price for sulfuric acid (98%) in East Asia is trading at around USD 300 per ton. This represents more than a threefold increase compared to the same period last year, when it traded at approximately USD 90 per ton.
August selling price set by KPC, a Kuwait state-owned sulfur company, is USD 865 per ton, which is more than triple the price of USD 259 per ton recorded in July of last year. The price of the raw material is higher than the finished product because one ton of sulfur can yield approximately three tons of sulfuric acid.




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LG’s Heat Pump Takes First Step into Europe

October 19, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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Large-scale supply to a Dutch apartment complex

Reducing energy consumption by up to 60%

In Ridderkerk, located about a 20-minute drive from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, construction is currently underway on a 102-unit apartment complex as part of a social housing redevelopment project.
A key feature of these apartments is the application of an integrated solution combining LG Electronics’ Therma V, which is an air-source heat pump system for heating, cooling, and hot water, with stainless buffer tanks from OSO, a Norwegian premium hot-water solutions company acquired by LG Electronics last year.

LG Electronics is achieving business-to-business (B2B) success, such as securing orders in Europe, by leveraging its core component technology to offer solutions that combine heat pumps and hot water. This is the first instance of securing an order in the European market with a package combining a heat pump and a stainless-steel buffer tank.
Therma V supplies heating, cooling, and domestic hot water by extracting heat from the outside air and circulating refrigerant, instead of burning fossil fuels directly.
This product incorporates LG Electronics’ self-developed high-efficiency inverter scroll compressor, reportedly enabling the generation of thermal energy equivalent to four-to-five times the input power, depending on operating conditions. According to LG Electronics, the system can reduce energy consumption by 40~60% compared to fossil-fuel boilers, thereby contributing to lower carbon emissions. The buffer tank included in the package serves as a buffering device that enhances the heating efficiency and stability of the heat-pump system by storing a certain amount of the heated water produced, thereby maintaining its temperature, and ensuring stable supply throughout the piping.



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Hancom Targets U.S. and European AX Markets

October 19, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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Targeting the United States, home to solo entrepreneurs and small business owners,
with an AI agent platform

Exporting enhanced-security AI OS to Europe

Hancom is accelerating its overseas market expansion, focusing primarily on the United States and Europe. The company is employing a two-track strategy: targeting solo entrepreneurs in the USA with the AI workforce platform ‘Nomadia,’ and addressing the demand for sovereign AI in Europe with the enterprise AI platform ‘Agentic OS.’

According to the information & technology (IT) industry, Hancom plans to release the beta version of Nomadian in the United States this December, and to launch a formal subscription service next year. Nomadian is a platform that allows users to build a team of AI employees by duty and assign tasks to the team. When a user select a role, such as data analyst or content marketer, the necessary work tools are automatically integrated, and the workflow is visualized through avatars within a 3D virtual office. Notably, irreversible actions, such as sending emails or executing electronic signatures, require final human approval.
The United States was chosen as the first market due to its size. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 30.4 million businesses that operate without employees, generating US 1.8 trillion in annual revenue, a figure comparable to South Korea’s nominal GDP. Additionally, the proportion of solo-founder startups rose from 23.7% in 2019 to 36.3% in the first half of 2025.
Targeting the European market is being led by Agentic OS. This platform enables development, execution and control of multiple AI agents from one place. It is designed to be installed directly within a customer’s infrastructure, thereby ensuring that data does not leave the internal environment. It targets local public sectors and financial clients in the region who face strict regulatory requirements, such as the EU’s AI Act. Hancom has gained experience in deploying AI within closed networks that are isolated from external networks, by supplying AI solutions to public institutions with stringent security requirements, such as the National Assembly and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. Its first overseas base is Poland.




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K-Electric Power Equipment Expands Ultra-High-Voltage DC Transmission

September 28, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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LS Electric to form joint venture with America’s GE Vernova
Hyosung Heavy Industries to establish new factory in Changwon next year
HD Hyundai Electric to localize core technologies

Amid a boom in the power infrastructure industry driven by demand for power-grid replacements in North America and a surge in demand fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), Korean companies have identified the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market as their next growth engine and are striving to strengthen their competitiveness.
LS Electric recently announced at CIGRE 2026, the world’s largest power-grid technology exhibition held in Paris, France, that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the U.S. power infrastructure company GE Vernova to establish a voltage source converter (VSC) HVDC joint venture.
Through the establishment of a joint venture, the two companies will pursue cooperation in the domestic VSC HVDC market, and develop joint solutions and strategies, including the supply of core equipment. They also plan to establish a cooperation framework to enter the global HVDC market.

HVDC is technology that transmits electricity generated at power plants as direct current (DC), drawing attention because it causes less power loss and can transmit more electricity.
Hyosung Heavy Industries demonstrated its technological capabilities by installing Korea’s first independently developed 200 MW VSC HVDC system in 2024 at the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) Yangju Substation. Its strengths lie in independently handling everything from system design and production of equipment such as converters, controllers, and transformers to overseas production, and in having a low dependence on foreign technology for its core technologies.
Hyosung Heavy Industries is also building a dedicated HVDC transformer factory at its Changwon plant in South Gyeongsang Province, aiming for completion in July 2027. It is investing approximately KRW 254 billion to expand its manufacturing facilities for high-capacity VSC converter systems, a core component of HVDC.
HD Hyundai Electric is pursuing the localization of core technologies as it was selected as a participating company in the government’s development of transformers for 500 kV-class large-capacity VSC HVDC converter transformers.
HD Hyundai Electric plans to enhance its competitiveness by utilizing the new plant currently under construction within its Ulsan plant as a dedicated production facility for HVDC transformers.

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SK On to Launch Full-Scale ESS Business

September 28, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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All production to be locally carried out at Georgia Plant
Bidding war for North American ESS market intensifies.

With SK On signing a large-scale supply contract with the U.S.-based NeoVolta Power, it is actively nurturing this as a new growth engine to overcome the electric vehicle (EV) chasm (temporary demand slump). Following the securing of the first large-scale order in the United States last year, the company has successively won orders in Korea and North America, rapidly diversifying its business portfolio that has been focused on electric vehicle batteries.
SK On’s expansion of its Energy Storage System (ESS) business began in earnest last year when it signed a contract with the U.S. renewable energy company Flatiron Energy LLC to supply 1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of ESS batteries using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pouch cells from this year through 2029.

SK On has secured large-scale production capacity in the USA, including SK Battery America in Georgia, a plant in Tennessee, and a joint venture with Hyundai Motor Group. In a situation where improving battery plant utilization and profitability has emerged as a key challenge due to the EV chasm, increasing ESS volume can secure new revenue streams while utilizing existing production facilities.
The decision to produce this NeoVolta Power supply volume at a local plant in Georgia can be seen in the same context. By establishing a structure that supplies batteries produced in the United States to local ESS customers, logistics costs can be reduced while customer responsiveness can be improved. In effect, local production bases built primarily for EV batteries are being utilized as hubs for the ESS business.
Competition for orders among Korea’s three major battery manufacturers is intensifying as they target market growth. LG Energy Solution is securing more local customers by supplying up to 8 GWh of ESS batteries to U.S.-based Terra-Gen LLC and 4 GWh to Delta Electronics Inc.
Meanwhile, Samsung SDI Co. signed a contract worth more than KRW 2 trillion with a U.S. energy infrastructure company in December last year to supply LFP batteries for ESS, followed by an additional contract worth about KRW 1.5 trillion with a U.S. energy company in March this year.
Automakers facing weaker EV demand are also entering the ESS market to improve utilization of existing battery production facilities and secure new revenue streams.


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LCCs Targeting Niches Left Empty by Asiana

September 28, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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Parata Air introduces high-speed Wi-Fi.
T’way and Air Premia upgrade their premium services.

Domestic low-cost carriers (LCCs) are drawing attention for expanding premium services, such as introducing in-flight high-speed Wi-Fi and increasing the number of long-haul routes to the Americas and Europe. This is seen as a niche strategy to preemptively capture demand for long-haul and premium services by filling the niche left by the disappearance of Asiana Airlines, which is set to merge with Korean Air at the end of this year.
Parata Air recently announced that it has signed a contract with Panasonic Avionics, a global aviation entertainment company, to introduce in-flight high-speed Wi-Fi. It plans to sequentially install Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-based communication systems on its three A330-200 aircraft. In line with the launch of routes serving the Americas next year, it plans to offer free in-light Wi-Fi to passengers in the upper-tier ‘Business Smart Class.’ Among Korea’s domestic low-cost carriers (LCCs), only Jin Air and Air Premia currently offer in-flight Wi-Fi.

The trend of existing LCCs moving away from being LCCs is also accelerating. T’way Air recently changed its name to ‘Trinity Airlines’ and declared a Select Service Carrier (SSC) model. The strategy is to maintain low-fare competitiveness on short-haul routes, while significantly introducing services comparable to major airlines, such as lounges, in-flight meals, and in-flight Wi-Fi, on long-haul routes to Europe and Australia.
Air Premia also recently announced a strategy to advance its Hybrid Service Carrier (HSC) capabilities. It is widening the pitch of some economy seats from 31 inches to 33 inches and expanding the one-hour free Wi-Fi service, currently available on only three aircraft, to all aircraft in the future.
However, strategies to expand long-haul and premium services require massive upfront investment, which inevitably places a significant burden on the short-term profitability of LCCs. In fact, Air Premia turned to a deficit last year, posting an operating loss of KRW 32.1 billion, while T’way Air (Trinity Airways) also recorded an operating loss of KRW 182.5 billion in the second quarter of this year. Furthermore, Parata Air is in a state of complete capital impairment, recording a net loss of KRW 32.6 billion in the first quarter of this year.
The reason why airlines are focusing on premium services is the market restructuring following the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines at the end of the year. The integrated Jin Air (Jin Air, Air Seoul and Air Busan), set to launch next March, is expected to be reborn as a ‘Mega LCC’ of overwhelming size, making survival itself difficult without a differentiation strategy.


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LG Enters Japan Market with New TV Products

September 28, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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Allowing efficient use of limited space

LG Electronics jumps into the Japanese market, putting forward with its portable screen TV, the StandbyME 2 MAX, which was recently launched in Korea. This marks the first time the StandbyME series has been released in Japan.
Although Japan is known as ‘a graveyard for foreign home appliances’ due to high loyalty to domestic brands, it is reported that LG Electronics has concluded it can target the market with its StandbyME series in response to changes in Japanese culture — such as the recent rise in single-person households to approximately 35% of all households and the growing trend toward valuing space efficiency in cramped living environments. According to industry sources, LG Electronics recently held a product-launch event for StanddbyME 2 MAX in Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan, and has begun full-scale pre-sales that will begin in September through ‘Makuake,’ a local crowdfunding platform with more than 3.3 million members.

Japan was widely known as a graveyard for imported foreign home appliances as there was practically no room for foreign home appliance companies. This is because, it was a nation that once dominated the global home appliance market with traditional powerhouse companies such as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, and Toshiba, and took pride in its industry-leading advanced home appliance technology.
However, LG Electronics launched the StandbyME 2 MAX series in the local market for the first time, believing it possesses sufficient competitiveness given the current situation in Japan, including the recent surge in single-person households and the increasing consumer demand for TVs that offer high space efficiency in cramped living spaces.
In fact, according to the 2025 National Survey of Basic Living Conditions of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as of June last year, Japan had 19.477 million single-person households out of a total of 55.088 million households.
LG Electronics’ StandbyME series is pioneering a new category by providing an environment where users can move the screen to any desired location and freely enjoy contents, unlike TVs and monitors that could only be used in a fixed location.


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K-Cable Strikes ‘Gold Mine’ in Submarine Cables

August 26, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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Sales of high-value submarine cables expanding

Increased demand arising from West Coast Energy Expressway project

Cable companies are accelerating profitability improvements, focusing on high-value-added products including ultra-high voltage and submarine cables. LS Cable & System and Taihan Cable are expected to achieve record-high performance this year, and according to the West Coast cable industry, LS Cable & System’s order backlog, which stood at KRW 2.8 trillion in 2022, reached 7.5 trillion in the first quarter of this year alone. The order backlog at the end of last year was approximately KRW 6.9 trillion.
LS Cable & System’s growth is attributed to the expansion of proportion of high-value-added products, including ultra-high voltage and submarine cables. Ultra-high voltage cables are key equipment that minimizes power loss when transmitting high voltage electricity produced at power plants over long distances. Submarine cables are used to connect offshore wind farms with the mainland.

LS Cable & System invested KRW 44.9 billion in 2023 to acquire KT Submarine (now LS Marine Solution), a submarine cable laying company.
Taihan Cable is also expanding its ultra-high voltage and submarine cable business. The proportion of ultra-high voltage and submarine cables in total sales increased from 13% in the first quarter of last year to 19% in the first quarter of this year. The order backlog for the first quarter of this year reached KRW 3.8 trillion.
Taihan Cable has set out to expand its submarine cable construction capabilities by acquiring a cable-laying vessel. It is reported that the company secured 56% of the domestic market based on laying capacity by acquiring the Scandiconnecto, a 7,000-ton submarine cable-laying vessel (CLV), for KRW 115.4 billion last May. The ultra-high voltage and submarine cable market is expected to grow rapidly as the West Coast Energy Expressway project, which will build an 8GW transmission network along the west coast by 2038, is accelerated.

 
 
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LGD Starts Supplying Dual-Mode OLED Panels

August 26, 2026 by Leave a Comment
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LGD Starts Supplying Dual-Mode OLED Panels to Samsung Electronics and Dell in the USA

Selectable screen types for movies and games

LG Display is supplying dynamic frequency and resolution (DFR·dual mode) panels to Samsung Electronics and U.S. computer maker Dell Inc.
This is a technological capability secured by LG Display, which successfully developed it for the first time in the world to differentiate itself in the market.
According to industry sources, LG Display has recently begun supplying panels equipped with dual-mode technology for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) monitors produced by Samsung Electronics and Dell.
LG Display has been expanding its supply of dual-mode panels, starting with LG Electronics in 2024, to ASUS last year and Samsung Electronics and Dell this year.

Samsung Electronics is reportedly equipping its 31.5-inch OLED monitors with LG Display’s dual-mode panels. This is the first time Samsung Electronics, which had applied dual-mode panels to liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, has expanded the technology to OLEDs. Samsung Display Co., Ltd. plans to launch dual-mode technology this year and begin mass production.
Dell is also reported to have applied LG Display’s red, green and blue (RGB) stripe technology and dual-model panels to its 39-inch OLED monitors for the first time this year.
Dual-mode is a technology that allows users to choose either a high refresh rate or high-resolution mode depending on the content, maximizing image quality. With a single monitor, it can handle both movies that require high resolution and shooting games that rely on a high refresh rate.
In the past, consumers had to buy separate monitors for gaming and movie viewing. But with a monitor equipped with a dual-mode panel, there is no need for an additional purchase, thus reducing the cost burden.
The share of dual-mode-equipped gaming monitors, which stood at just 4~5% of the total in the fourth quarter of this year, is expected to rise to around 20% by 2028.

 
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