SK hynix narrows gap with Samsung in NAND flash sector

South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. saw its share of the NAND flash market rise in the fourth quarter of 2014 from three months earlier, narrowing its gap with industry leader Samsung Electronics Co., data showed Sunday.SK hynix saw its market share reach 11.4 percent in the October-December period, up 1.1 percentage points from the 10.3 percent posted a quarter earlier, the data by market tracker TrendForce showed. In contrast, Samsung saw its shares fall 1.8 percentage points over the

Feb. 8, 2015

Samsung's hospitalized head No. 1 dividend earner in 2014

Lee Kun-hee, the de-facto head of South Korea's top family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, earned the most amount of dividends among local businessmen last year, data showed Sunday, helped by the government's pressure on listed firms to expand returns to shareholders.Lee, who has been hospitalized since May after suffering a heart attack, earned 178.8 billion won ($164 million) in 2014, up 63 percent from a year earlier, the data by market researcher Chaebul.com showed.The jump came as th

Feb. 8, 2015

Samsung No. 3 reputable firm in U.S.: report

South Korea's Samsung Group was named as the third-most reputable firm in the United States, a report showed Sunday, on the back of its strong products and services appealing to American consumers.Being the only foreign company to be included in the top-10 list, only two firms, grocery-chain operator Wegmans Food Markets Inc. and e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc., outperformed Samsung in terms of corporate reputation, the report by U.S.-based market researcher Harris Poll showed.Apple Inc., which

Feb. 8, 2015

Samsung Electronics' portion in group affiliates falls in 2014

The profit portion of South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. among its listed group affiliates declined last year from a year earlier as the smartphone maker reported the weakest earnings in three years, data showed Thursday.   The tech firm -- the flagship unit of the country's top conglomerate, Samsung Group -- posted 25 trillion won ($22.9 billion) in operating profit for the January-December period of 2014, accounting for 80.9 percent of the combined operating income from 18 listed

Feb. 5, 2015

LG Electronics Q4 net loss widens

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's leading home appliance and smartphone maker, said Thursday its net loss widened by more than threefold in the fourth quarter of 2014 from a year earlier as it suspended production of plasma display panel (PDP) TVs due to lack of demand.Net loss came to 205.7 billion won (US$189.9 million) in the October-December period, compared with a loss of 63.5 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. The figure was in line with the market con

Jan. 29, 2015

SK Telecom Q4 net jumps on growing LTE subscribers and new businesses

SK Telecom Co., the country's top mobile operator, said Thursday its fourth-quarter earnings soared on an increased number of subscribers to its faster mobile Internet connection and a rise in sales from its business solution service.Net profit came to 503.3 billion won (US$465 million) in the October-December period, up 71.4 percent from the 293.6 billion won tallied a year earlier, SK Telecom said in a regulatory filing. The figure, however, marks a 5.2 percent drop from the previous quarter.R

Jan. 29, 2015

Samsung Electronics gears up to keep mobile grip after weakest profit in 3 years

Samsung Electronics Co. set out to reclaim its edge in the handset business that on Thursday revealed its weakest annual earnings in three years for the world's top smartphone maker, as competition is expected to get fiercer with global rivals in both the high- and low-end markets.The tech giant booked a net profit of 23.4 trillion won ($21.6 billion) in 2014, down 23.2 percent from 30.5 trillion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.The operating profit fell 32 percent

Jan. 29, 2015

Naver's net more than doubles in Q4

Naver Corp., South Korea's top Internet portal operator, on Thursday released weaker than expected fourth-quarter earnings, sending its stock price to a one-week low.Net income came to 134.5 billion won (US$124.2 million) in the October-December period, more than doubling from 54.1 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. But the fourth-quarter reading was well below the median estimate of 163.2 billion won suggested by South Korea's nine brokerage houses, according t

Jan. 29, 2015

Big firms expected to cut recruitment slightly in 2015

Leading South Korean companies are likely to hire fewer new employees in 2015 than last year as there is no clear sign of an economic recovery, a poll showed Tuesday.The survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), which canvassed the country's top 500 companies by sales, found 180 of them plan to hire 22,844 new workers in 2015, down 2.3 percent from 23,385 last year. Of those polled, 305 responded.Among the respondents, 125 said they have not yet come up with a hiring plan as t

Jan. 27, 2015

Samsung Electronics likely to expand dividend payout

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to unveil a near 40-percent jump in cash dividends this week, industry sources said Sunday, following such decisions by Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp.Samsung had paid out a total of 2.16 trillion won ($1.99 billion) in dividends to its shareholders for 2013, or 14,300 won per share, according to the sources.They said that the company will likely give a 40 percent increase in cash dividends for 2014, citing Samsung's earlier anno

Jan. 25, 2015

Daewoo Shipbuilding wins $800 mln worth of orders for LNG carriers

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world's second-biggest shipyard, has signed deals worth a combined $800 million to build four liquefied natural gas carriers, the shipbuilder said Thursday.Under the deals signed Wednesday with Korea Line Corp. and Hyundai LNG Shipping Co., the shipbuilder will deliver the LNG carriers by May 2017, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The latest orders are the first for Daewoo Shipbuilding in 2015.The state-run Korea Gas Corp. had placed or

Jan. 22, 2015

KT&G's net jumps 45.5 pct in 2014 on strong sales

KT&G Corp., South Korea's state-run tobacco producer, said Thursday its net profit jumped 45.5 percent in 2014 from a year earlier, driven by an increase in domesticsales ahead of a sharp price hike.Net income came to 813.8 billion won ($751.9 million) last year, compared with 559.3 billion won in 2013, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit went up 15.6 percent on-year to 1.17 trillion won last year, and sales gained 7.6 percent to 4.11 trillion won, it said.The numbers refle

Jan. 22, 2015

LG's new curved smartphone to hit shelves this month

South Korea's No. 2 tech giant, LG Electronics Inc., said Thursday that it will roll out its latest version of its curved-smartphone lineup on its home turf later this month and gradually expand its sales to overseas markets.The G Flex 2, with a Full HD 5.5-inch display, will become LG's second smartphone that boasts a display curving inward from top to bottom and slightly from right to left but will be slightly smaller than its 6-inch predecessor, the company said.The latest model was showcased

Jan. 22, 2015

LG's smartphone sales up 25 pct on-year in 2014

South Korea's No. 2 tech giant, LG Electronics Inc., is estimated to have posted a 25 percent gain in its smartphone sales last year from a year earlier, industry sources said Thursday, taking a step closer to claiming the third spot in the global market.The combined smartphone shipment of LG Electronics is estimated at 59.6 million units for 2014, up from the 47.6 million units posted a year earlier, the sources said. Industry watchers earlier expected its sales would hover around 60 million un

Jan. 22, 2015

Hyundai Motor labor union to appeal against controversial wage ruling

Hyundai Motor Co.'s labor union said Wednesday it will appeal against a recent court ruling unfavorable to the automaker's employees that said the company should include bonuses as ordinary wages for some workers.Last week, the Seoul Central District Court ordered Hyundai Motor, the country's top automaker, to count regular bonuses as part of ordinary salaries only for some employees and to pay three years of outstanding bonuses retroactively.The ruling was mostly in favor of the automaker as th

Jan. 21, 2015

Microsoft debuts machine-learning platform in S. Korea

Microsoft Korea rolled out its first machine-learning tool in South Korea on Wednesday as the firm moves to expand clout in advanced technology based on fast-growing cloud computing systems.  Azure machine-learning, which runs on Microsoft's namesake cloud system, is an analysis platform developed by the U.S. software giant that offers predictions for a specific case set by the user. When a user inputs enough data to create a model for a certain case, Azure machine-learning produces a pattern us

Jan. 21, 2015

Samsung Electronics says considering stock split

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's largest firm by market value, has been considering splitting its stock to lower the high price tag of its shares but will look more into the long-term effect before making any decision, a senior executive said Tuesday."(Samsung Electronics) has been looking into whether stock splits actually have a positive impact on the company's value," Lee Myung-jin, a senior investor relations official at Samsung Electronics, said in a meeting hosted by the Korea Exchan

Jan. 20, 2015

Hyundai's Sonata PHEV cited as top 8 noteworthy eco cars

Hyundai Motor Co.'s Sonata plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) ranked fifth among the top eight "noteworthy" eco-friendly vehicles unveiled during this year's Detroit motor show, a U.S. eco car review website said Tuesday.The website (www.hybridcars.com) selected eight noteworthy eco-friendly cars unveiled during the motor show. The C350 PHEV of Mercedes-Benz, Acura NSX of Honda and Chevrolet Volt were among the vehicles."Hyundai can now take its place alongside Ford, Toyota, GM and others in

Jan. 20, 2015

Korean Air sees int'l flight passengers decline in 2014

The number of passengers using international flights of South Korea's largest flag carrier, Korean Air Lines Co., dropped for the second straight year in 2014 in the face of intensifying competition from low-cost carriers, industry data showed Tuesday.According to the data provided by Incheon International Airport Corp. and Korea Airports Corp., about 16.6 million people used Korean Air's international flights last year, down 0.3 percent from a year earlier.This marked the second straight year t

Jan. 20, 2015