Samsung narrows gap with Apple in Canadian smartphone market in Q3: report

Samsung Electronics Co. remained the second-largest smartphone vendor in Canada in the third quarter of the year but narrowed its market share gap with Apple Inc., a report showed Wednesday. The South Korean tech giant took a 33 percent market share in the July-September in Canada, up from 32 percent a year ago, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Research. Apple kept its top status in Canada, accounting for a 53 percent share in the third quarter of the year, down from 56 percent a ye

Nov. 25, 2020

Naver eyes re-entering Japanese search engine market after 2 previous failures

Naver Corp., the operator of South Korea's dominant internet portal, is positively reviewing making inroads into the Japanese search engine market despite two previous failures, the company's executive said Wednesday. Naver first entered the Japanese search engine market by establishing Naver Japan but exited the country in 2005. Naver made another attempt in the market by introducing a search engine, Naver Japan, but closed down the service in 2013. "We believe we can make it this time,&

Nov. 25, 2020

[Monitor] US and Chinese startups dominate global top 10 list

China-based artificial intelligence company ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has been selected as the most-valued startup in the world, valued at $140 billion, according to the data collected by CB Insights. Companies based in the US and China dominated the list as of November. Among the top 10 “unicorns” around the globe, six firms are based in the US, while those based in China numbered three. According to CB Insights, there are more than 500 startups in the world that a

Nov. 25, 2020

Samsung Electronics marks all-time high TV market share

Samsung Electronics posted an all-time high share in the global TV market in terms of revenue during the third quarter, according to a report. Market research organization Omdia said in its report that Samsung‘s market share in the third quarter reached 33.1 percent in terms of revenue, a record-high quarterly figure for the company. Samsung Electronics’ revenue from TV sales in the third quarter reached $9.3 billion, up by 22 percent on-year. Samsung sold a total of 14.85 mil

Nov. 24, 2020

LG releases new 4K projector amid pandemic

LG Electronics Inc. on Monday introduced a new cinema projector in South Korea that boasts easy screen alignment amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. The latest model of the LG CineBeam Laser 4K, the HU810PW, is equipped with a "triple image adjustment" feature that gives more installment options to users, the South Korean appliance maker said. It will be sold at 3.79 million won ($3,400) here. The new projector can create a rectangle screen even if it is positioned at the

Nov. 23, 2020

SK Telecom, Samsung develop advanced cloud native core network system

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's leading mobile carrier, said Sunday it has developed a next-generation cloud native core network system with Samsung Electronics Co. that can provide better 5G services. A core network is the central part of a telecommunications infrastructure that handles key tasks, including device certification and quality of service management, for mobile subscribers to access various services. SK Telecom said its latest core network is the first in the industry to meet the

Nov. 22, 2020

Apple, mobile carriers release new iPhone 12s in S. Korea

Apple Inc. and South Korea's three major telecom operators started shipping the iPhone 12 mini and the 12 Pro Max on Friday. The launches of the smallest and the largest versions of Apple's latest devices follow the release of the standard 12 and 12 Pro models in the local market late last month. The iPhone 12 mini comes with a 5.4-inch screen, compared with the standard model's 6.1-inch display, while the 12 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch screen. Apple's latest generation of smartphones are the comp

Nov. 20, 2020

KakaoTalk users to be able to make multiple profiles

Kakao said Thursday that the company will add a new visibility setting to its messenger application KakaoTalk to protect the privacy of users. The new visibility setting is to allow users to control what others see about you across KakaoTalk services. KakaoTalk users in the future will be able to set up several messenger profiles and select who on KakaoTalk can see which profile. KakaoTalk’s public beta testing of the new feature will begin during the first quarter next year. Previous

Nov. 19, 2020

LG Innotek partners with KIPO on info protection

LG Innotek, the high-tech parts making unit of LG Group, said Thursday that the company had signed an agreement with the Korean Intellectual Property Office and partner firms to increase cooperation to safeguard confidential business information. Under the latest agreement, LG Innotek will provide its partners with education and policy consultations to improve the protection of confidential information. The company added that it would help its partners to build systems to protect business secre

Nov. 19, 2020

S. Korean lawmakers call on Google to reduce app store fees like Apple

A group of South Korean lawmakers on Thursday called on Google to follow Apple Inc.'s move to lower its commission for app market purchases amid concerns of local app developers over high fees. Apple announced a day earlier it will reduce the standard commission on its App Store from 30 percent to 15 percent for app developers with yearly proceeds of less than $1 million from next year. "Apple's policy to halve its commission is well-timed," said seven lawmakers of the main oppositio

Nov. 19, 2020

[Monitor] Huawei losing out in global smartphone market

Due to the US sanctions on Huawei, which have cut off the Chinese smartphone maker from chip supplies, the company has decided to sell its mid-range phone brand Honor, according to reports Tuesday. Considering the current shares of the global smartphone market, Huawei that had claimed a 14 percent share as of the third quarter of 2020 would fall behind its rivals like Samsung Electronics. Honor’s phone shipments accounted for 25 percent of Huawei’s total shipments. Meanwhile, Sa

Nov. 19, 2020

Ministry, carriers in gridlock over bandwidth redistribution price

As past generation network frequency bands used by South Korea's major telecom operators are set to expire next year, the ICT ministry and the three carriers are locked in a fierce debate over their redistribution price. Earlier this week, the government said it wants at least 3.2 trillion won ($2.9 billion) from the carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- for the 2G, 3G, 4G frequency bands up for redistribution next year, nearly double their proposal of around 1.65 trillion

Nov. 19, 2020

Kakao sets new standards for digital wallet

Kakao said Wednesday that it would add a digital wallet feature to South Korea’s largest messenger application KakaoTalk. The company will also start introducing new subscription-based services via the messenger application. Kakao’s co-CEOs Yeo Min-su and Cho Soo-yong introduced new features that are to be added to KakaoTalk during an online press conference held as part of the company’s annual conference, which runs from Wednesday to Friday. The digital wallet feature woul

Nov. 18, 2020

Growth rate of pay TV subscriber slow

The growth rate of pay TV subscribers in South Korea has slowed this year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The number of new pay TV subscribers during the first half this year reached around 350,000, down by 220,000 compared to that of last year, marking the lowest increase in three years, the report said. In the first half of 2017, the number of new pay TV subscribers reached 830,000. The figure increased to 910,000 in the second half in 2017. I

Nov. 18, 2020

KT CEO appointed as new board member of GSMA

KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo has been appointed one of the four new board members of GSMA, an international industry organization dedicated to representing the interests of mobile network operators, the South Korean telecommunications firm announced Tuesday. Ku said he would put his best effort into leading innovations in a wide range of sectors, including 5G networks, artificial intelligence, platforms and business-to-business areas over the next two years. GSMA director general Mats Granryd express

Nov. 17, 2020

Mobile carriers, government still deadlocked over frequency pricing

The Seoul government and telecommunications firms held a meeting to negotiate the pricing of frequency reallocation costs for 3G and Long-Term Evolution networks in Seoul on Tuesday, but failed to reach a compromise. The latest meeting was held to close gaps that exist between the government and the nation’s three major telecommunications firms, KT, SK Telecom and LG U+. During the meeting, the ICT Ministry rolled out a new offer to local telecommunications firms, proposing to provide

Nov. 17, 2020

Samsung smartphones' domestic market share exceeds 70% for first time: market researcher

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest smartphone maker, saw its domestic market share exceed 70 percent for the first time in the third quarter on new products, a market research firm said Sunday. For the three months that ended in September, Samsung Electronics produced 3.4 million smartphones to account for 72.3 percent of the local smartphone markets, according to data from Strategy Analytics, Inc. New products such as the Galaxy Note 20 smartphone and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Galaxy

Nov. 15, 2020

Apple, S. Korean mobile carriers start preorders for new iPhones

Apple Inc. and three South Korean mobile carriers began taking preorders Friday for the iPhone 12 mini and the 12 Pro Max. The US tech giant said the smallest and the largest versions of its latest generation smartphone will go on sale in South Korea starting Nov. 20. The iPhone 12 mini is the smallest of Apple's new smartphones, with a 5.4-inch screen, compared with the standard model's 6.1-inch display. It, however, has the same dual-camera setup on the back as the 12 model. The 12 Pro Max

Nov. 13, 2020

Samsung heir returns to business after father's death, convenes design strategy meeting

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong convened a design strategy meeting Thursday in his first business activity since his father's death last month. Lee and high-ranking executives discussed the tech giant's future design plans during the meeting at its research center in Seoul, the company said. It was the first time that the 52-year-old tycoon led a company event since the passing of his father and longtime Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee, who died at age 78 on Oct. 25. Lee, the

Nov. 12, 2020

Higher the better? NAND memory tech competition heats up

With the latest announcement of Micron’s completion of a 176-layer NAND Flash chip, pressure is mounting on market leader Samsung Electronics over its belated new product launch. Up until early this year, it was widely expected that Samsung was going to announce the mass production of its seventh-generation 3D V-NAND Flash this year. However, industry insider s said that the Korean chip giant seems to have changed plans due to technological challenges that it has not yet overcome. Sa

Nov. 12, 2020