Hyundai’s first all-EV factory in the US will be in Georgia

Hyundai is betting big on American electric vehicle sales. The automaker has struck a deal with Georgia to build its first dedicated EV factory in the US. The 2,923-acre plant near Savannah will make cars and batteries when production is projected to start in the first half of 2025. Construction starts in early 2023. The company expects to manufacture 300,000 EVs per year at the facility, covering a “wide range” of models.

Multiple factors led to the location choice. Hyundai pointed to “favorable business conditions” that included speedy market access, a large talent pool and an existing network that includes Kia’s main manufacturing hub as well as suppliers. Unnamed incentives play a part, according to Savannah Morning News. However, it’s also a prime spot for transportation. The factory is less than 31 miles from Savannah’s port, which is the largest container stopover in the US and has two railway facilities at its disposal. Add the proximity of two major highways (the I-95 and I-16) and it will be easy for Hyundai to receive supplies and ship finished EVs.

Not surprisingly, both Georgia and Hyundai are touting economic benefits. They estimate the investment to be worth $5.54 billion, with Governor Brian Kemp claiming it will be the “largest project” in state history. Hyundai further claimed the plant would create 8,100 jobs, although it’s not clear how many of those are full-time, permanent roles.

The annual production level won’t be quite as strong as Hyundai’s conventional manufacturing output. The company’s Montgomery, Alabama plant can make up to 399,500 vehicles per year. This represents a major commitment to EVs, however, and suggests Hyundai is racing to compete with Tesla, Rivian, Volkswagen and other brands expanding their electric car production in the country.

Samsung’s new phone storage standard is twice as fast

Samsung has introduced the latest iteration of its Universal Flash Storage product, which it says is much, much faster than its predecessor. The UFS specification was already developed to enable SSD speeds for cameras, phones and other devices, but this version — called UFS 4.0 — has a speed that reaches 23.2Gbps per lane. That’s double the speed of UFS 3.1, the standard used by Samsung’s S22 flagship phones. The tech giant says its huge bandwidth makes it perfect for 5G smartphones that typically require huge amounts of data processing. Samsung also expects it to be adopted for use in the automotive industry, as well as for augmented and virtual reality devices.

The flash storage features Samsung’s 7th-generation V-NAND solution and proprietary controller, and the company says those help it deliver sequential read speeds of up to 4,200MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 2,800MB/s. It’s a lot more power efficient, as well, with a 46 percent improvement over the previous generation that could translate to longer battery life. Samsung’s USF 4.0 devices will have max measurements of 11mm x 13mm x 1mm and will come in several capacities up to 1TB.

The company will begin mass producing UFS 4.0 storage products in the third quarter of 2022. Right now, Samsung says it’s “collaborating with smartphone and consumer device manufacturers globally” and “working vigorously to foster an ecosystem for UFS 4.0 to drive the market for high-performance mobile storage solutions.”

Activision Blizzard shareholders approve Microsoft’s $68.7 billion takeover bid

Activision Blizzard’s shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favor of a proposed $68.7 billion takeover by Microsoft. More than 98 percent of the shares that voted at a special meeting held on Thursday approved of the merger.

Though the company called the vote non-binding and advisory, the deal could not have moved forward without the majority of shareholders giving it the green light. The board of directors unanimously agreed it was in the best interest of Activision Blizzard and its shareholders, and recommended they vote in favor.

The planned merger is not finalized and it could still collapse. The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the deal and is expected to closely scrutinize the details. Under chair Lina Khan, the FTC has put the kibosh on NVIDIA’s attempt to buy ARM and revived an antitrust case against Meta over its purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will also need regulatory approval from the UK, the European Union, China and some other jurisdictions, according to an SEC filing. The companies expect the deal to close by June 2023.

There are other considerations that may impact the planned Activision Blizzard-Microsoft merger beyond antitrust concerns. The embattled game publisher has been the subject of lawsuits and accusations alleging workplace harassment and discrimination. Meanwhile, some quality assurance workers at Activision studio Raven Software are holding a union election over the next few weeks.

Samsung reports steep rise in profit for the first quarter of 2022

Samsung has reported a massive rise in operating profit for the first three months of 2022, thanks in part to the robust demand for its memory chips and the strong sales of its new Galaxy flagship devices. The Korean tech giant has posted an operating profit of KRW 14.12 trillion ($11.12 billion), which is 51 percent higher than the same period last year, and a record consolidated revenue of KRW 77.78 trillion ($61.2 billion). 

As usual, Samsung’s memory division was a standout performer, exceeding market forecasts because memory prices didn’t drop as much as analysts had expected. It posted a consolidated revenue of KRW 26.87 trillion ($21.14 billion), and while it saw a slight decline in profit due to incentives and seasonality, demand for PC and server chips remained solid. The company’s foundry business also contributed to the division’s performance by achieving its highest ever first quarter sales. Samsung is optimistic for the division’s prospects going forward, but it also expects component shortages to persist through the second half of the year and will constantly monitor the situation. 

While overall demand for mobile was down due to seasonality and “geopolitical uncertainties,” Samsung posted higher profit (KRW 3.82 trillion or $3 billion) and revenue (KRW 32.37 trillion or $25.5 billion) for the division this quarter compared to the last. The strong sales of its new flagship phones, particularly the Galaxy S22 Ultra, as well as of its mass market 5G phones contributed to both profit and revenue growth. Despite the allegations that a preinstalled app on S22 phones is throttling the performance of several applications, the company previously said that demand for the flagship is 20 percent higher than of its predecessor’s. Samsung expects component shortages for mobile to continue, as well, but it also expects the availability of component supplies for the S22 to improve. That’s why it plans to focus on maintaining strong sales for its flagships in the next quarter.

The tech giant reports a rise in mobile display earnings due to solid demand for premium products, as well. For larger displays, it says its QD monitors were well-received. It debuted its QD-OLED technology, which differs from standard OLED in that it only uses blue organic light-emitting diodes for a brighter output, at CES earlier this year. Samsung’s TV business lagged behind its other divisions, though, and saw a decline in demand following strong sales in the end of 2021 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In early March, Samsung halted its product shipments to Russia, where it has a TV plant and where it’s known as the top smartphone brand.