Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop operator, agreed to buy Bay Bread LLC for $100 million in cash, adding to its expanding portfolio of non-coffee businesses.The acquisition of San Francisco-based Bay Bread and its La Boulange brand will decrease full-year profit by 2 cents a share, the Seattle-based company said in a statement today. The French-themed bakery sells homemade granola,

IndustryJune 5, 2012

The Apple iPad extended its lead in the global market for tablet computers at the start of 2012 while Amazon's Kindle Fire flamed out after a sizzling introduction, a survey showed Monday.The ABI Research survey showed overall global sales of media tablets amounted to 18.2 million in the first three months of the year, up 185 percent from a year earlier, but down 33 percent from the fourth quarter

TechnologyJune 5, 2012

The chairman of the troubled Korea Savings Bank was arrested Tuesday on charges of embezzlement and stealing bank funds as part of a probe into alleged irregularities by suspended savings banks, prosecutors said. Yoon Hyun-soo, 59, was accused of issuing some 150 billion won ($127.6 million) in illegal loans to a subsidiary of Taihan Electric Wire Co. and embezzling an unspecified amount of bank f

IndustryJune 5, 2012

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it has increased the number of companies on its watch list by nine that limits mutual investments and loan guarantees.The Fair Trade Commission said the number of corporate affiliates on the list stood at 1,850 that belonged to 63 private business groups and large public companies as of Friday, compared with 1,841 in the previous month.Twelve comp

June 5, 2012

South Korea's top home appliance manufacturers said Tuesday that their three-dimensional (3D) smart TVs have won eco-friendly certifications from leading European technical service review organizations.Samsung Electronics Co. said its flagship 55-inch ES8000 model won TUV Rheinland Group's coveted Green Mark for energy efficiency and low carbon emissions in the production stage. It added its Itali

IndustryJune 5, 2012

Kim Seok-dong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said Monday the European fiscal crisis is having the greatest economic impact since the Great Depression.“The fiscal crisis that started in Greece in October 2009 has spread from Europe’s marginal states to central nations, and to the banking sector. We are now seeing heightened concerns of a banking crisis in Spain,” Kim said in a meeting of senior FSC officials.Kim stressed that a banking crisis in Spain, an economy five times the s

June 4, 2012

LG Electronics said Monday that it received the most innovative brand award for its Cinema 3-D smart television at a recent event in Cologne, Germany.The company said it received the award for three models among this year’s TV lineup in the home entertainment video sector at the Plus X Awards held at the New Yorker ― Dock.One in the German city.The three models won high points from the judging panel, composed of 130 people, in innovation, quality, design, convenience, functionality and eco-frien

IndustryJune 4, 2012

POSCO said Monday that it has further strengthened its protection of human rights and environmental values in a recent revision to the company’s codes of ethics. As part of the revision, which took effect on Saturday, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker added new rules banning all discrimination based on race, nationality, marriage and sexual orientation.It was the first time a Korean company has included a ban on discrimination against sexual minorities in its corporate codes of ethics, accor

IndustryJune 4, 2012

Upgraded Sorento R, Equus, K3, Tucson ix to debut in second halfHyundai Motor and Kia Motors will continue to push for releases of new vehicle models during the latter half of this year, following their strategies in the first half.They will collectively launch at least four new models ― the Sorento R, Equus, Tucson ix, and K3, according to executives of the affiliated automakers.As their first event for the second half, Kia Motors is poised to unveil the facelift model of the Sorento R, the com

MobilityJune 4, 2012

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) ― South Africa’s fixed line operator Telkom announced that plans for a partnership with South Korea’s telecom operator KT will not go ahead after Pretoria decided not to back it.The two last year opened talks on a “strategic venture” that would have given KT Corporation a 20 percent stake in Telkom.Telkom said in a statement on Friday it had been informed by the Communications Minister Dina Pule that cabinet had this week “taken the decision not to support the transaction as p

TechnologyJune 4, 2012

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency hosted a business forum in Seoul on Monday for a Chinese delegation, including officials and businesspersons from Sichuan province.The agency held the meeting because the province located in southwest China is the core of the Chinese government’s agenda to develop its western territory, KOTRA said. Recently Hyundai Motor, Lotte Department Store, Woori Bank and Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. decided to invest in Sichuan. The largest ever business informati

June 4, 2012

A World Bank Group agency providing insurance, including political risk coverage, in developing countries will open a special office in Seoul as early as September, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Monday. The Korean government and the Washington-based Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency tentatively agreed to the Seoul opening, which could become a permanent office after three years of operation, officials added. The MIGA promotes foreign direct investment into developing countries by

IndustryJune 4, 2012

Samsung still No. 1, LG swings back to second placeWith more than half of Koreans already owning a smartphone, the three major handset manufacturers have fully joined the race to roll out handsets running on the Long Term Evolution networks.Samsung Electronics, the world’s top smartphone maker, announced Monday that it sold up to 930,000 units of LTE handsets in Korea as of May. The figure enabled the country’s IT behemoth to maintain its top position here ― an estimated 61.2 percent of the loca

IndustryJune 4, 2012

Global funds reduced ownership of South Korean stocks by the most since August last month while boosting holdings of local-currency bonds as Europe’s debt crisis spurred demand for the safest assets.International investors, led by funds in the U.K., Luxembourg and France, reduced ownership of equities by 3.4 trillion won ($2.9 billion), the Financial Supervisory Service said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.Their holdings were 367.8 trillion won at the end of May, accounting for 31.4 percent o

June 4, 2012

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Taiwan’s light-emitting diode industry is facing stiff competition from South Korean and Chinese rivals due to greater efforts by the two competitors to develop the sector, a Taiwanese industry report said Monday.Taiwan’s Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association said Taiwan should not overlook the rapid development of the LED industry in South Korea and China.“Mainland China has been expanding the scale of its industrial base with government subsidies and

TechnologyJune 4, 2012

Consumers frustrated; large stores call it a death sentenceDouble-income couples and the retail industry are perplexed by a revised bill recently proposed by the Democratic United Party to close large discount stores from 9 p.m. to 10 a.m. and also three to four times a month. “I was not happy to hear that, especially the part about discount stores having to close more than three times a month,” said 30-year-old office worker Jang Jae-hyuk, whose wife also works. “We don’t go to traditional mark

IndustryJune 4, 2012