Samsung retains No. 1 spot in US home appliance market

Samsung Electronics retained its No. 1 spot in the US home appliance market for an eighth consecutive year, dating to 2016, thanks to strong sales of key household products including refrigerators and washers, industry data showed Wednesday. According to market tracker TraQline, Samsung notched a 20.9 percent market share based on sales in the US home appliance market in 2023, followed by its crosstown rival LG Electronics with 18.8 percent, GE Appliances and Whirlpool, which secured 17.6 percen

TechnologyApril 10, 2024

Korean battery firms await grim Q1 earnings amid EV slowdown

Korea's top three battery makers -- LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On -- are buckling up for the impact of their first-quarter earnings, which are certainly looking dispirited amid the withering demand for electric vehicles across the globe. According to LG Energy Solution’s preliminary earnings released on Friday, the country’s leading battery firm is expected to post 6.13 trillion won ($4.53 billion) in revenue and 157 billion won in operating profit from January to Ma

IndustryApril 10, 2024

Chinese e-commerce platforms catching up with Korean rivals

Chinese e-commerce platforms, including the big three AliExpress, Temu and Shein, saw their Korean sales more than double over the past six months, while their Korean rivals suffered lukewarm sales performance during the same period, according to payment transaction data released Wednesday. According to an analysis report by BC Card, the nation’s largest payment processing company, payments made on Chinese e-commerce platforms soared more than 130 percent from October last year to March th

IndustryApril 10, 2024

[Photo News] Mental health for athletes

LG Electronics, the South Korean home appliance giant, said Wednesday it donated $100,000 to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a US-based organization overseeing intercollegiate athletics. The contribution aims to support the NCAA's program dedicated to promoting mental health within collegiate athletics. “We hope this contribution fosters the mental well-being of young athletes, enabling them to pursue successful careers," said Jung Kyu-hwang (center), head of LG Ele

CompaniesApril 10, 2024

[Photo News] 10th anniversary of Samsung Innovation Museum

The Samsung Innovation Museum, Korea's largest electronics industry museum, located at Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, marks its 10th on April 21. Since its grand opening in 2014, the museum has attracted some 500,000 visitors from 180 countries, including state guests from 23 countries. The 10,950-square-meter museum houses some 150 historical products such as light bulbs invented by Thomas Edison, transistor radios and TVs, as well as a multi-purpose Sa

IndustryApril 10, 2024

Hybe likely to join FTC’s antitrust watch list

Hybe, the powerhouse behind K-pop sensation BTS, is poised to claim the "large firm" status, with its total assets passing beyond the 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) mark last year. According to the company's regulatory filings, Hybe's total assets stood at 5.35 trillion won by the end of last year, marking a 9.8 percent increase from the 4.87 trillion won tallied in 2022. This milestone heralds a groundbreaking achievement as the first K-pop company to enter the esteemed "

IndustryApril 10, 2024

Samsung hopes to shed Galaxy brand's ‘ajeossi phone’ reputation

Samsung Electronics is striving to shed the reputation of its flagship Galaxy smartphones as "ajeossi" phones among teens and users in their 20s, with short films starring popular TV celebrities. An "ajeossi" is an older married man or an uncle in Korean, but in this context, it implies a sense of being "old" or "out of style." The world's largest smartphone maker by shipment said its short film series, “S24 Hours Movie Series,” starring a

IndustryApril 9, 2024

Seoul shares close lower ahead of parliamentary elections, US inflation data

South Korean stocks ended lower Tuesday as investors grew more cautious ahead of parliamentary elections and the release of key US inflation data later this week. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After starting higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 12.49 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 2,705.16. Trade volume was moderate at 458.4 million shares worth 9.48 trillion won ($6.99 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 489 to 370. Institutions bought stocks wo

MarketApril 9, 2024

Samsung to receive over $6b subsidy from US: report

Samsung Electronics is set to receive between $6 billion and $7 billion in grants from the US government next week as the Korean chipmaker looks to bolster its US production, Reuters reported Monday. According to the report citing anonymous sources, the subsidy from the Biden administration will be used for the construction of four semiconductor facilities in Taylor, Texas. The subsidy-impacted facilities are a $17 billion chipmaking plant Samsung announced in 2021, another chip factory, an adva

IndustryApril 9, 2024

Aging cities more vulnerable to climate change: study

Cities with large populations of older residents show greater vulnerability to climate change due to inadequate investment in green infrastructure and spaces such as parks and forests, according to a study conducted by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology on Tuesday. A research team led by Kim Seung-kyum, professor at the Moon Soul Graduate School of Future Strategy at Daejeon-based KAIST, discovered the correlation between an aging population and its impact on vulnerability to

IndustryApril 9, 2024

IMM plans to sell up to W300b Hanatour shares

Korea's leading travel agency Hanatour has been listed in the merger market with its ownership stake up for sale. Reports from the industry on Tuesday indicate that IMM Private Equity, Hanatour's largest shareholder, has recently commenced the selection process for a new stakeholder, which is anticipated to amount to up to 27.78 percent of the shares. Market sources predict that the sale price may reach around 300 billion won ($224 million), considering the management premium and mar

IndustryApril 9, 2024

BAT unveils special McLaren design for F1 Japanese Grand Prix

BAT Rothmans, the Korean unit of British American Tobacco, said Tuesday it unveiled a special McLaren livery design inspired by its e-cigarette products for the 2024 F1 Japanese Grand Prix. According to BAT, the unveiling of the livery is part of the "Driven by Change" project, a collaboration campaign between the tobacco company and the McLaren Formula 1 Team. Launched in 2021, this collaborative initiative aims to provide emerging talents worldwide with the opportunity to design li

CompaniesApril 9, 2024

Hotel Shilla CEO to sell W440b of Samsung shares

Lee Boo-jin, the president and chief executive of Hotel Shilla, will reportedly sell some 440 billion won ($325 million) in Samsung Electronics stock, in an apparent bid to pay off her inheritance tax. Industry sources revealed Tuesday that Lee, a member of the Samsung Group founding family, is assessing buyer demand for a block deal involving 5,247,140 shares in the tech giant. Should the sale proceed, her shareholding in Samsung Electronics would decrease from 0.89 percent to 0.8 percent. The

IndustryApril 9, 2024

Dethroned king of apps, KakaoTalk user numbers in decline

Mobile messenger KakaoTalk's once-overwhelming lead in the instant messaging industry in Korea has continued to falter, as a report Tuesday showed that the number of people regularly using the application has fallen to the lowest figure in 22 months. The monthly active users -- those who used a service at least once a month -- for KakaoTalk in March was 44.97 million, down from 45.19 million the previous month. It marked the first time the figure for the instant messaging service had dipped

IndustryApril 9, 2024

Daewoo E&C wins Red Dot Awards

Daewoo Engineering & Construction announced Tuesday that three of its projects were winners of the 2024 Red Dot Design Award. Among the awarded projects is the Artistic Playground, installed at the Daechi Prugio Summit apartment complex in Gangnam-gu, southern part of Seoul. This space incorporates free-form play structures that resemble artworks drawn with a 3D pen in circular patterns. It was designed to inspire creativity and imagination, beyond conventional playground models. The playgro

IndustryApril 9, 2024

[Photo News] New bullet train

Hyundai Rotem said Tuesday that it has completed a quality inspection of the KTX Cheong-ryong, its newest bullet train that has a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour, before it gets handed over to the Korea Railroad Corporation for operation. Hyundai Rotem's new bullet train has undergone over 180,000 km of test rides on railroads across the country since October 2022. The KTX Cheong-ryong will begin operations next month. (Hyundai Rotem)

MobilityApril 9, 2024

Big companies increase R&D investment in 2023

Big companies in South Korea increased their investments in research and development activities last year despite decreased earnings, a corporate data tracker said Tuesday. Their combined R&D investments rose 9.4 percent to 73.42 trillion won ($54 billion) in 2023 from 67.14 trillion won a year earlier, according to a recent survey of 224 firms by the data tracker CEO Score. They suffered declines in sales and operating profit due to an economic slowdown but they executed their planned R&

CompaniesApril 9, 2024

Seoul shares open higher ahead of parliamentary elections, US inflation data

South Korean stocks started higher Tuesday ahead of parliamentary elections and the release of key US inflation data later this week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 18.76 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,736.41 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, major US indexes were almost flat as investors awaited the March consumer price index report, a key measure of inflation, to be released later this week. Investors' eyes are also on the results of South Korea's

MarketApril 9, 2024

US unveils some $11.6 b in grants, loans to TSMC

The US government announced a plan Monday to award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. some $11.6 billion in grants and loans to support the chipmaker's investment for three fabrication plants in Arizona, as it strives to boost domestic semiconductor production. The Department of Commerce has signed a preliminary agreement with TSMC Arizona Corporation, a TSMC subsidiary, to provide up to $6.6 billion in grants and about $5 billion in loans under the CHIPS Act to back TSMC's investment of mor

IndustryApril 8, 2024

Goodbye to Whopper? Burger King’s marketing stunt stirs confusion

The announcement from Burger King's South Korean operator that it would stop selling its popular Whopper lineup has stirred up controversy and mixed opinions over whether it is merely a marketing stunt or not. Early Monday morning, Burger King informed customers through its website and mobile messenger KakaoTalk about the end of Whopper sales. "Whopper sales will end after 40 years," the announcement read. "We thank everyone who has loved the Whopper all this time." Acco

CompaniesApril 8, 2024