LG Electronics’ operating profit jumps 82 percent in Q1

LG Electronics on Thursday said its operating profit jumped 83 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier, on the back of strong home appliance business. The South Korean electronics manufacturer posted 14.66 trillion won ($12.7 billion) in sales and 921.5 billion won in operating profit for the January to March period. The sales went up 9.7 percent from a year earlier.(Yonhap)LG attributes the surge in operating profit to profits from the company’s home appliance and air solu

April 27, 2017

Naver’s operating profit rises 13 percent in Q1

South Korean internet giant Naver said Thursday that its operating profit in the first quarter of this year rose 13.2 percent on-year to 290.8 billion won ($257 million), led by strong advertisement sales and heightened transactions on its mobile and online platform services.　Naver’s revenue also went up 15.5 percent on-year to 1.82 trillion won in the January-March period. Its net profits rose 27.8 percent on-year to 210.9 million won during the given period.The Naver headquarters in Pangyo, Gy

April 27, 2017

LG Chem receives energy storage award in N. America

Battery producer LG Chem said Thursday it has been recognized as the most outstanding energy storage system maker in North America. The South Korean company received the Brad Roberts Outstanding Industry Achievement Award at a conference held by the Energy Storage Association in Denver, Colorado, in the US.Executives of LG Chem pose after winning the Brad Roberts Award at the ESA Annual Conference and Expo in Denver on Thursday. (LG Chem)It is the first time for a Korean business to win the awar

April 27, 2017

Galaxy S8 display not faulty: Samsung

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday ruled out speculation that Galaxy S8 smartphones have faulty displays, claiming the controversial red tint on some devices can be changed by users.During a conference call held after the company released its first-quarter earnings report, Samsung Electronics claimed that the company has conducted a thorough inspection of the Galaxy S8 to ensure product quality. (Yonhap)"Due to the nature of Super AMOLED displays, there can be natural differences in color," Sam

April 27, 2017

Samsung cancels W49tr treasury shares

Samsung Electronics’ board of directors on Thursday approved plans to cancel about 49 trillion won ($43.3 billion) worth of treasury shares as part of efforts to raise value for shareholders, the company announced. The tech titan cited a strong balance sheet and an increase in cash holdings as reasons for reducing the need to hold treasury shares that the company had retained as a financial resource for possible mergers and acquisitions, as well as the hiring of talented professionals.(Yonhap)“M

April 27, 2017

Air conditioner sales rise sharply amid early high temperatures: sources

Sales of air conditioners and electric fans rose sharply this month from a year earlier, industry sources said Thursday, amid above-average temperatures that can be a sign of a hot summer to come.Lotte HiMart, a consumer electronics retailer, witnessed a whopping 180 percent increase in the sales of air conditioners for the first 25 days in April from the same period last year. (Yonhap)Sales of electric fans also jumped 40 percent during the time span.E-Mart, South Korea's largest discount store

April 27, 2017

[Herald Interview] Nexon eyes innovation with ‘crazy experiments’

Nexon will continue to commit to developing new digital games that push the boundaries of established game genres despite the risks, as the company sees innovation as an underpinning component of its future competitiveness, its chief executive said Tuesday.“We’re doing a lot of experimentation with new games that are pushing current genres or creating entirely new genres outside of Korea,” Nexon CEO and President Owen Mahoney said during an interview with the local press at this year’s Nexon Dev

April 26, 2017

LG upgrades AI platform for home appliances

LG Electronics on Wednesday launched an upgraded version of an artificial intelligence platform, named “Smart ThinQ Hub 2.0,” which will serve as a hub device for connecting and controlling home appliances. The cylinder-shaped speaker-like device can have short, simple conversations with human users as it is equipped with natural language comprehension technology, an enhancement from its previous model.  An employee showcases the Smart ThinQ Hub, Air Station and Solar Cell Sensor that were launc

April 26, 2017

Korea launches alliance to nurture "smart home" industry

South Korea launched an alliance of leading information and communication technology and construction firms on Wednesday to nurture the "smart home" industry that connects artificial intelligence and Internet of Things to home appliances."We can make the world's leading smart home industry with the combination of our home electronics industry, information technology, infrastructure and semiconductors," Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said at a event to mark the launch at the Korea Electronics Tech

April 26, 2017

Study says being underweight also raises depression risk

Not only being overweight but also being underweight causes depression for both men and women, a finding that highlights the importance of maintaining the right weight for psychological health, a study said Wednesday.Published in the recent issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, the study showed that the risk of depression is 16 percent higher for people underweight than for those in the norm range. The risk was 21 percent for men, much higher than 12 percent among women.Obesity also brough

April 26, 2017

Social robot patent applications rise sharply on AI, robotics advances: data

The application of patents for social robots that can interact and communicate with humans has risen sharply in South Korea in recent years with the advances being made in robotics and artificial intelligence, government data showed Tuesday.Social robot patent applications have surged more than 20 percent annually since 2013, and the figure climbed by 75 percent over the past couple of years, according to statistics released by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). (Yonhap)Private firm

April 25, 2017

Samsung’s facial recognition not ready for mobile payments

Samsung Electronics’ facial recognition technology requires more than four years to be solely used for mobile payment, a source from Samsung and industry watchers predicted on Monday. Facial recognition is considered the next-generation biometric technology as it is more convenient than an iris scanner or fingerprint. It can be certified by simply looking at the smartphone instead of positioning your eyes in a small section of the screen or moving your finger around trying to locate the scanner.

April 25, 2017

Samsung keeps top spot in US home appliance market

Samsung Electronics retained the No. 1 spot in the US home appliance market for a fourth consecutive quarter, a survey by market researcher TraQline showed Tuesday.In the quarterly survey of market shares of home appliance manufacturers in the US, Samsung claimed 19.2 percent for the January-March period, remaining the top supplier of major home appliances in the country.The South Korean company’s dominance in the American market expanded 4.5 percentage points, the survey showed.Samsung first ro

April 25, 2017

SK hynix posts record high Q1 earnings as DRAM prices surge

Owing to higher market prices of memory chips, SK hynix, the world’s second-largest DRAM producer achieved record operating profit in the first quarter of this year, the company announced Tuesday. SK hynix posted 6.29 trillion won ($5.57 billion) in revenue on a consolidated basis for the January-March period, with 2.47 trillion won in operating profit and 1.9 trillion won in net income. The operating margin for the quarter was 39 percent and net margin was 30 percent, it said. Compared to the p

April 25, 2017

Netmarble Games begins share sales as it pursues W2.6tr IPO

South Korea’s Netmarble Games began selling its shares to interested investors Tuesday as the company prepares to go public on Korea’s main bourse Kospi on May 12. The share sales will continue until Wednesday.The Korean mobile game giant is offering 16.95 million shares at 157,000 won ($138) apiece, which is at the top of the initially proposed price range. This pricing scheme would let Netmarble raise 2.66 trillion won and would set the firm’s market capitalization at around 13.3 trillion won.

April 25, 2017

Samsung develops enhanced mobile chip for IoT applications

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has developed an application processor (AP) for Internet of Things (IoT) devices.The South Korean tech giant said it has completed the development of the Exynos i T200 that boasts improved security. AP chips, referred to as the "brains" of electronic devices, play a key role in activating operating systems and applications. (Yonhap)The IoT is a concept in which all tangible objects are connected to the Internet and can identify themselves to other devices

April 25, 2017

LG Display retains top spot in TV LCD panels

South Korea's LG Display Co. stood as the leading maker of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for TVs in the first quarter, data showed Tuesday, although overall shipments fell amid the industry's shift to OLED panels.According to the data compiled by industry tracker WitsView, LG Display produced 12.6 million units of LCD panels in the January-March period, down 7 percent from three months earlier. (Yonhap)Taiwan-based Innolux Corporation followed with 9.9 million units. China's BOE Technology

April 25, 2017

IBM Korea bets future on cognitive, cloud technology business

IBM Korea, the local branch of the US-based tech giant, is betting its future on its cognitive computing and cloud service businesses as the world embraces a new age led by futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and blockchain.The US tech firm is seeking to expand the usage of Watson, its AI-powered cognitive data computing platform, in South Korea and become a strong cloud service provider to local firms with growing data storage and management demand.“L

April 24, 2017

Discoveryho releases bi-directional mobile fashion shopping app

The startup Discoveryho recently released “FashionSShow,” a bi-directional mobile fashion shopping application. Following the initial release of the Android version in February, an iOS version of the app was released this month. CEO Lee Eun-ho said, “Currently, over two-thirds of the sales of online fashion and beauty shopping malls occur in the mobile environment, and this percentage is expected to continue increasing.”Unlike existing shopping platforms, FashionSShow features video product revi

April 24, 2017

Galaxy S8 Plus set to take up more than 50% of combined sales

Sales of the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 Plus are expected to beat that of the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8, a report showed Monday, reflecting the market's demand for smartphones with wider displays.Samsung Electronics Co. kicked off official sales of the new flagship smartphone series in South Korea and the United States last week. (Yonhap)According to the report released by Yuanta Securities Korea Co., the annual sales of the Galaxy S8 smartphones are expected to reach 50.4 million units, with the Galaxy S8 Plu

April 24, 2017