NCsoft’s net surges 86% on overseas sales growth

NCsoft, Korea’s top online game developer, reported Friday its net profit in the first quarter had surged 86 percent to 66.2 billion won ($57 million), largely driven by sales growth in overseas markets. Its sales rose 28 percent to 240.8 billion won in the first three months of the year compared to the previous year. Operating profit was also up 69 percent to 75.8 billion won over the same period. The company’s global sales reached 109.3 billion won, making up 45 percent of its total revenue in

May 13, 2016

Korean firms far behind global peers in 'big data' use

Only around 5 percent of South Korean companies make use of "big data" in their businesses, far lower than 29 percent of global firms, recent surveys showed.Among local firms with 100 employees or more, 4.3 percent were using big data, which is large volumes of instant digital data, as of October last year, according to South Korea's National Information Society Agency.The rate was 9.6 percent among those with over 100 billion won ($85 million) in revenue.A majority of companies said they feel n

May 13, 2016

Hyundai Motor unveils wearable robot

Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's auto giant, has unveiled photos of a wearable robot that can be applied in plants, national defense and many other areas, group officials said Friday.The robot that one can wear by simply buckling into it is reminiscent of the suit seen in “Iron Man,” a Hollywood blockbuster movie. It has been developed by major affiliates of the auto giant including Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp. and Hyundai Rotem Co., according to the officials. Some photos of the robot

May 13, 2016

CPA Global sets new business goal in Korea

CPA Global, a leading intellectual property management firm, on Thursday said it will aim to cater to the diversified needs of its Korean clients with comprehensive services. Announcing its new business goal for the Korean market, the firm said it ultimately hopes to help customers realize their ideas and get more value from their IP via integrated software, services and information. Marcos Antunes, general manager of the company’s Asia-Pacific business unit, speaks at a press conference at Kore

May 12, 2016

SK names Korean AI system ‘Aibril’

SK Holdings C&C on Thursday announced “Aibril” as the name of the Korean version of Watson, an artificial intelligence system created by IBM. Aibril is a combination of “AI” and “brilliant,” illustrating how the increase in intelligence will prove fruitful, according to company officials. “Aibril will play a significant role in helping start-ups and IT developers create various applications for robots and mobile devices,” the firm said in a statement.SK C&C, the information technology services a

May 12, 2016

Kakao’s profit plunges 65% in Q1

Kakao Corp., the operator of the immensely popular mobile messenger app Kakao Talk, on Thursday reported an almost 65 percent plunge in net profit in the first quarter due to its slowing ad sales and increased costs. The company’s net profit was down 64.5 percent to 10.9 billion won ($9.3 million) in the first three months of the year compared to a year ago. Its sales rose 3.5 percent to 242.4 billion won during the same period.The company said its ad business suffered seasonal weak demand in th

May 12, 2016

Korea creates new 'control tower' on sci-tech policy

Korea launched a presidential council on science and technology Thursday to oversee the nation's efforts to overhaul the research and development (R&D) sector.The "strategic" panel, headed by President Park Geun-hye, will serve as a "control tower" and a "trouble shooter" for Korea's overall science and technology policy, said the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)Park presided over the inaugural session of the council at her office Cheong Wa Dae, atte

May 12, 2016

Four Grit expands UX analysis product range to B2C market

The startup Four Grit, a UX (user experience) analysis company founded only six months ago, announced on May 9 that it would be expanding its product range from the B2B (business-to-business) to B2C (business-to-consumer) market.Four Grit (CEO: Tae Joon Park) provides an automated service that analyzes its clients’ web services, searches for a wide range of problems, and provides them with a report of its findings. It not only analyzes key indices such the inflow and purchases of actual users, b

May 12, 2016

Ericsson-LG demonstrates 5G network tech in Korea

Ericsson-LG demonstrated the next-generation network 5G on Thursday. It marked the first time that the network equipment manufacturer had showcased the network in Korea. The 5G network equipment used for the demonstration offered a peak download speed of 26 gigabit per second, around 350 times faster than the current Long-Term Evolution network. “I feel proud of the Ericsson-LG researchers at the Anyang R&D center who are contributing to achieving technical innovation for both Korean and global

May 12, 2016

Park vows to overhaul Korea's R&D system

President Park Geun-hye vowed Thursday to innovate Korea's research and development (R&D) system, stressing the country's prowess in science and technology is the key to staying ahead of the competition. Park made the latest pledge as Korea is finding itself "sandwiched" between intense competition with advanced countries and challenges by emerging economies that have managed to bridge the technology gap to a considerable extent  President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)A weaker Japanese yen and China's

May 12, 2016

Kakao's Q1 net dips 65% on slumping ad biz

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Thursday its first-quarter net profit plunged 64.5 percent, as its advertisement business suffered falling seasonal demand and it spent big on new businesses.Net profit reached 10.9 billion won ($9.3 million) in the January-March period, compared with 30.8 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating income also dropped 47.7 percent on-year to 21 billion won, while sales rose 3.5

May 12, 2016

[Photo News] LG CordZero mopping cleaner

LG Electronics on Wednesday launched a new CordZero vacuum cleaner with a wet mop function. After the front motor sweeps dirt, a mopping kit dampens a cleaning pad and wipes the floor. The cleaner is priced at 429,000 won ($366). (LG Electronics)

May 11, 2016

KT creates 5G alliance with Samsung, Nokia

South Korean network operator KT has formed an alliance with global network equipment firms including Samsung Electronics and Nokia to jointly roll out technology standards and services of the next-generation network 5G for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.The network operator said Wednesday that the company and its partners have launched the strategic alliance, dubbed KT 5G Development Forum, though which participants will develop mobile devices and network systems running on the 5G network

May 11, 2016

Microsoft to launch two data centers in Korea

Microsoft is hoping to expand its presence in the nation’s nascent but fast-growing cloud service market, launching two data centers here by 2017. Its Korean operations said its two centers in Seoul and Busan will be operated from September 2017. The company did not specify the location and size of the facilities, citing privacy of corporate clients.  Microsoft Korea CEO Alfred Koh speaks at a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. (Microsoft Korea)“We had some limitations in meeting local dema

May 11, 2016

[Photo News] Apple iPhone SE arrives in Seoul

A sales person poses with Apple’s iPhone SE at a retail store of SK Telecom on Tuesday. The 4-inch screen iPhone went on sale in Korea on the day through local telecom carriers and retailers. Prices start from 569,800 won ($485) for the basic 16G model. (Yonhap)

May 10, 2016

LG’s mobile division plans personnel reshuffle

LG Electronics’ mobile communications division has decided to carry out a sizeable personnel reshuffle after months of operating losses. “We need to change the way we work to move faster and lighter,” the company’s CEO and mobile chief Cho Juno said in an email message to employees Monday.                                       LG Electronics CEO Cho Juno“Other business divisions also need people from MC (mobile communications). We will continue to reshuffle personnel.”The reshuffle plan comes af

May 10, 2016

SK C&C, IBM eye 'Korean Watson'

SK Holdings C&C, the information technology services unit of SK Group, said Monday it has teamed up with IBM to launch the Korean version of the U.S. tech giant’s artificial intelligence system Watson early next year. The two companies plan to develop a set of new application programming interfaces within the year that will allow Watson to understand Korean and communicate in Korean. Even after the service launch planned next year, the system will continue to learn Korean upon almost five years

May 9, 2016

LG Styler sales doubled in China

LG Electronics said Monday its clothing care system LG Styler saw monthly sales double in China in the first five months of this year compared to the previous year. The company did not provide specific sales figures. The Styler is a steam closet designed to refresh clothes without washing or ironing them. It doesn’t use chemical detergents, but instead uses steam to deodorize fabrics. The moving hangers shake the wrinkles from the steamed garments.  Customers check out an LG Styler at a shop in

May 9, 2016

Samsung chairman stable after 2 years in hospital

After nearly two years since he was first hospitalized, Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee’s health is said to be stable currently. Even though the company does not reply to media inquiries about the chairman’s health, industry watchers assume that he is in stable condition but shows no sign of improving.  Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee (Yonhap)“The chairman’s health is his private issue. We do not comment on it,” said a Samsung spokesperson, declining to be named. The Samsung pa

May 8, 2016

[Photo News] LG Signature at Prague Spring Festival

May 8, 2016