Association demands swift decision on SKB-CJHV M&A

[THE INVESTOR] A group of cable TV operators on June 15 urged the government to make a swift decision on the merger and acquisition of IPTV firm SK Broadband and cable TV company CJ HelloVision.“Constant efforts should be made to restructure the broadcasting and communications market, and to attract new investment,” said the Korean Cable Television Association, asking state regulators to speed up the process of approving the M&A.The KCTA said the prolonged review sessions of the regulators are w

June 15, 2016

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Note to finally have iris scanner

[THE INVESTOR] Korean camera module-maker Patron will reportedly be supplying its iris camera modules for Samsung Electronics’ next premium smartphone, presumably the Galaxy Note 7, according to news reports on June 15.The Korean camera module firm reportedly won a bid months ago to supply the entire volume of biometric modules needed for the upcoming smartphone, which is expected to be unveiled on Aug. 2 in New York City.Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 5 (Yonhap)Some of renderings of the smart

June 15, 2016

Samsung denies plans for 3-D NAND investment

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics on Wednesday officially denied news reports on its investment plans for high-end memory chip production lines.The announcement comes after Korean news media reported that the semiconductor company was planning to invest around 25 trillion won ($21.2 billion) to beef up its production lines for 3-D NAND flash memory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)“The company has not set detailed plans for the investment as the 3-D NAND flash memory business

June 15, 2016

LINE skips dividend payout

[THE INVESTOR] LINE Corp., the messaging app arm of South Korea’s popular web portal Naver, has not been paying dividends to its shareholders and Seoul headquarters, according to documents on June 15. According to documents recently submitted to Tokyo’s main bourse operator, the Japan Exchange Group Inc. and the U.S.-based Securities and Exchange Commission, LINE has never issued dividends since it was launched in 2000. On the issue, the company elaborated about its dividend plans in the submitt

June 15, 2016

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Note to finally have iris scanner

 [THE INVESTOR] Korean camera module maker Patron will reportedly be supplying its iris camera modules for Samsung Electronics’ next premium smartphone model, presumably the Galaxy Note 7, according to news reports on June 15.The Korean camera module firm reportedly won a bid months ago to supply the entire volume of biometric modules needed for the upcoming smartphone, which is expected to be unveiled on Aug. 2 in New York City.   Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Note 5Some of renderings of the smartp

June 15, 2016

Samsung denies rumors of investment plan for 3D NAND memory

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics on Wednesday officially denied news reports on its investment plans for high-end memory chip production lines.The announcement comes after Korean news media reported that the semiconductor company is planning to invest around 25 trillion won ($21.2 billion)--some claimed 2.5 trillion won-- to beef up its production lines for 3D NAND flash memory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. “The company has not set detailed plans for the investment as the 3D NAND

June 15, 2016

Samsung SDS exec hints at share repurchase

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDS chief financial officer Park Sung-tae said on June 14 that the company is considering buying back shares and offering dividends in a bid to bolster the firm’s sagging stock prices.“We are considering repurchasing 1.8 trillion won ($1.5 billion) worth of Samsung SDS stocks,” Park told the company’s minority shareholders who gathered at the firm’s Southern Seoul headquarters.YonhapShare prices of the information and technology arm of Samsung Group have been falling since

June 14, 2016

Samsung to inject 2.5 trillion won into memory chip plant

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics plans to inject an additional up to 2.5 trillion won ($2.1 billion) to beef up memory chip productions at its plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, the Electronic Times reported on June 14. 　With the new investment plan, the Korean tech giant aims to strengthen its leadership in the soaring memory chip market. According to the newspaper, the funding will be used to produce a monthly 40,000 3D NAND Flash memory chip wafers. The plant is expected to start operati

June 14, 2016

Shareholder actions affect Samsung SDS’ asset divest plan

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDS, a key information and technology arm of Samsung Group, is likely to choose a split-off rather than a spin-off to reorganize its lucrative business process outsourcing business unit, which is aimed at easing opposition of minority shareholders, according to market watchers on Monday. “Facing a growing number of activist shareholders, the Samsung unit is likely to choose a split-off to minimize the impact of its asset divest plan on its share price,” HI Investment & Sec

June 14, 2016

Samsung apologizes for online glitch

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has apologized to customers for technical glitches during the online sales of its Galaxy S7 edge Injustice Edition, or as it is often dubbed -- the Batman phone. Soon after the phone went on sale online at 10 a.m. on June 13, around 1,300 orders -- 300 more than the number of smartphones available for sale -- were allowed to be made, due to systemic errors on the website.Samsung Electronics` Galaxy S7 edge Injustice Edition.“If the additional 300 consumers stil

June 14, 2016

Samsung SDI to improve profitability in Q2 on EV batteries

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDI, which saw a whopping 700 billion won ($600 million) in operating losses in the first quarter, is expected to improve profitability in the second quarter, largely buoyed by growing demand for automotive batteries. On June 14, Kiwoom Securities estimated that the company’s operating loss could be reduced to stand at about 33.9 billion won for the April-June period. “As marketability is improving in the electric vehicle market, Samsung SDI’s battery business is also expe

June 14, 2016

SKT commercializes next-gen streaming tech

[THE INVESTOR] Network operator SK Telecom has begun using the real-time mobile streaming technology “T Live Streaming” in its sports channel, in a bid to reduce latency, the company said on June 14.The T Live Streaming service is an improved model compared to other existing media transmission technologies such as “HTTP Live Streaming,” and “MPEG-2 Transport Streaming,” both of which have been widely-used standards for the past two decades.The next-generation streaming technology reduces latency

June 14, 2016

Samsung Electronics one of top 10 advertisers in 2015

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics was the largest advertiser in the country, a report showed on June 14.Samsung, along with Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics and the top three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, were among the top 10 advertisers last year, according to Korea Advertisers Association. The main building of Samsung Electronics in Seoul.The country was also the sixth-largest spender among Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development countries

June 14, 2016

Naver, LINE execs likely to benefit most from IPO

[THE INVESTOR] The much-anticipated initial public offering of mobile messenger firm LINE Corp. will not only increase the corporate value of the firm, but also be a great financial boon for top executives of the mobile messenger firm, industry watchers said. Among stock options granted to the firm’s executives, since 2012, 25.6 million shares -- or 14.6 percent of entire shares -- have not been unexercised.Line chief global officer Shin Joong-ho. YonhapConsidering the anticipated offering price

June 14, 2016

[Executive Review] DJI's Phantom 4 drone elegant, sophisticated

The Phantom 4 is the newest drone model by Chinese tech firm DJI. It is based on the DJI’s classic Quadro-Copter design of the Phantom series, with an X-shaped body, four propellers and a high-end camera mounted in a gimbal within a robust landing gear below the main body. Compared to the previous model Phantom 3, the body is streamlined. It has no edges or openings and the base plate of the gimbal with the SD card slot is integrated into the main body. The downward-looking sensors are integrate

June 14, 2016

LG to nurture white hat hackers

[THE INVESTOR] Tech behemoth LG Electronics has rolled up its sleeves to nurture “white hat hackers,” or computer security experts. The leading electronics firm said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Information Technology Research Institute to foster security experts, on Monday at Best of Best education center, an educational institute for information technology security, in Gangnam. LG Electronics’ Min Kyung-oh (left) and Yoo Joon-sang, the president of the Korea Informati

June 14, 2016

Samsung seeks to attract global investments

[THE INVESTOR] The fourth week of June will probably be one of the busiest weeks this year for tech giant Samsung Electronics as it is slated to hold, as well as participate in, a series of meetings and events to entice global investors.The Korean tech giant will be holding a global strategic meeting with the top executives of its global offices from June 21 to 22 at the firm’s head office in Suwon. Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics. Around 400 to 500 chiefs and executives of Sa

June 14, 2016

[EXECUTIVE REVIEW] Merck Korea CEO flies DJI’s Phantom 4 drone

[THE INVESTOR] The Phantom 4 is the newest drone model by Chinese tech firm DJI. It is based on the DJI’s classic Quadro-Copter design of the Phantom series, with an X-shaped body, four propellers and a high-end camera mounted in a gimbal within a robust landing gear below the main body. Compared to the previous model Phantom 3, the body is streamlined. It has no edges or openings and the base plate of the gimbal with the SD card slot is integrated into the main body. The downward-looking sensor

June 14, 2016

Samsung Galaxy S8 likely to come with 4K UHD display

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics’ next flagship smartphone, tentatively dubbed Galaxy S8, is likely to come with a 5.5-inch, 4K UHD display, a market research firm said Wednesday. 　The Korean tech giant would become the first smartphone-maker to pack 4K resolution into its flagship smartphone, even though Sony last year released the Z5 Premium with such a panel. “Samsung Display showcased a 5.5 ultra-high definition 4K display with a pixel density of 806 ppi for virtual reality devices at the

June 13, 2016

Samsung Display doubles OLED shipments in Q1

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Display’s shipments of organic-light emitting diode panels have more than doubled over the past year, as global smartphone manufacturers, including those in China, are increasingly adopting OLED displays. UBI Research, a local market research firm that specializes in OLED, estimates that Samsung’s OLED shipments have soared to about 86.7 million units in the first three months of this year. The research results were obtained by The Investor, an online English business webs

June 13, 2016