LG Display turns to net loss in Q4

South Korean panel giant LG Display Co. said Tuesday it swung to a net loss in the fourth quarter from a year earlier due to falling global panel prices.The net loss came to 13.5 billion won ($11.2 million) in the October-December period, compared to a profit of 389.2 billion won posted a year earlier, LG Display said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)Sales dropped 10.1 percent on-year to 7.49 trillion won in the fourth quarter, and its operating profit crashed 90.3 percent over the cited period t

Jan. 26, 2016

LG Electronics' net loss narrows in Q4

South Korean tech giant LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday its net loss narrowed in the fourth quarter from a year earlier on strong sales of premium TVs and home appliances, despite a poor performance from its smartphone business.Net loss came to 140.4 billion won ($117 million) in the October-December period, compared with a deficit of 205.6 billion won during the same period in 2014, LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing.Sales shed 4.7 percent on-year to 14.5 trillion won, and operating pr

Jan. 26, 2016

LG’s car business swings to profit

LG Electronics said Tuesday its car parts business division swung to a profit in the fourth quarter for the first time since it started releasing its separate earnings last year. 　The company said the Vehicle Component division, which produces parts for automotive infotainment systems, posted 520.4 billion won ($432 million) in sales and 9.7 billion won in operating profits in the October-December period.A company logo is displayed at the LG Electronics headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)　LG establis

Jan. 26, 2016

SKT takes leap forward in 4G emergency services network

Mobile carrier SK Telecom said Tuesday that the company and Finnish network equipment firm Nokia have successfully conducted a test run of a group communication system, which enables hundreds of users to communicate over the network at the same time. Technicians from SK Telecom and Nokia run a test trial of the group communication system. (SKT)Since the current LTE network hits a communications bottleneck when a large group of people try to make calls or send messages at the same time, it fell s

Jan. 26, 2016

SK hynix Q4 profits plunge on weak demand

South Korean chipmaker SK hynix said Tuesday despite record sales of 18.7 trillion won ($16 billion) last year, its fourth-quarter operating profits plunged by 40.7 percent. 　The company’s annual sales saw an on-year growth of 10 percent -- the third straight year of record sales -- however, it was hit hard by weakening chip demands globally in the October-December period and operating profits fell to 988.8 billion won. SK hynix’s main factory in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province　Sales stood at 4.4 tril

Jan. 26, 2016

Samsung unfazed by Haier-GE deal

Samsung Electronics on Monday said that Haier’s recent purchase of General Electric’s home appliance business would have a limited impact on its businesses in the U.S. and globally. “We see no immediate threat. Our strategy in the U.S. market is different from those of Haier and GE,” said Samsung’s home appliance chief Seo Byung-sam at a new product launch event held at the Seoul headquarters. According to industry sources, the Korean tech giant, as well as its local rival LG Electronics, had tr

Jan. 25, 2016

[Photo News] LG portable speakers boast unique design

LG PORTABLE SPEAKERS BOAST UNIQUE DESIGN -- Models pose with tech giant LG Electronics’ tumbler-shaped portable speaker, dubbed the Portable Speaker 360 (left), and a speaker with a wooden body, named the Portable Speaker Classic (right), in Seoul on Monday. (LGE)

Jan. 25, 2016

Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5 to be fitted with faster mobile technology

While expectations are high for the Galaxy S7 and G5, the new flagship smartphones of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, respectively, an announcement by mobile carrier SK Telecom on Monday offers hints to a new feature on the handsets. SK Telecom employees work at a laboratory of the firm in Seoul. (SKT)Korea’s leading mobile carrier said that it would deploy an advanced uplink carrier aggregation technology, which will increase the upload speed of the long-term evolution network, up to fo

Jan. 25, 2016

SK Planet steps up efforts to support SMEs

IT solutions developer SK Planet said Monday it has supported around 250 small and medium enterprises to tap into global markets through its e-commerce platform 11st in the second half of last year. The logo of SK Planet, the operator of e-commerce platform 11st. (SK Planet)The SK Group affiliate has been running its e-commerce platform 11st with different names in global markets -- n11 in Turkey, Elevenia in Indonesia, and 11Street in Malaysia.The company ran a Korean zone on the e-commerce web

Jan. 25, 2016

Samsung SDI shareholders agree to spin-off

Samsung SDI shareholders on Monday agreed to spin off the company’s chemicals business into a new affiliate called SDI Chemical, that will be sold to Lotte Chemical within the first half of this year.  Samsung SDI CEO Cho Nam-seongThe battery-making unit of Samsung Group said it will focus more on its flagship business to cater to electric vehicles. Samsung SDI CEO Cho Nam-seong told shareholders the company would invest 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) into the electric vehicle battery business ov

Jan. 25, 2016

SK Telecom, Cisco join hands to develop IoT solutions

SK Telecom said Sunday it has teamed up with Cisco Systems International, the U.S. networking giant, to develop new solutions for the Internet of Things technology that connects all machines via the Web. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding at SKT’s Seoul headquarters on Friday.  The new solutions would combine SKT’s ThingPlug, an IoT platform that allows different devices and mobile apps to work together, and Cisco’s infrastructure application technology Fog Computing that off

Jan. 24, 2016

Pantech to return with new budget phone

Pantech, the nation’s smallest smartphone-maker, which found a new owner while on the verge of bankruptcy last year, is poised to return to the market with a new phone in the summer. The new phone, the first new model since the Vega Pop-up Note phablet in November 2014, aims to target the fast-growing budget-phone market, the company’s CEO Moon Ji-wook said Friday. “This is the right timing to enter the budget phone market. We will be betting on phones that big companies such as Samsung and LG w

Jan. 24, 2016

[Photo News] Samsung heir poses for selfie

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong on Friday poses at a college classroom in Daejeon together with a group of students. The Samsung heir made a surprise visit to Chungnam National University to encourage teachers and students who were participating in the company’s Dream Class programs that tour rural areas every year to offer classes. (Samsung Electronics)

Jan. 24, 2016

Fake hoverboard batteries plague Samsung, LG

Fake batteries are becoming a headache for Korean battery-makers Samsung SDI and LG Chem, after recent hoverboard fire and explosion cases in the U.S. reportedly involved counterfeit batteries bearing Samsung and LG logos. More than 300 counterfeit hoverboards worth around $94,000 were seized in Miami by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week, according to a news report by Sun-Sentinel.  A person rides a hoverboard on the street. (Yonhap)The counterfeit hoverboards, which were shipped

Jan. 23, 2016

LG front-load washer keeps its crown in U.S. for 9 years

Tech giant LG Electronics said Friday that it topped the U.S. front-loading washing machine market for the ninth consecutive year in 2015.Citing a report compiled by market research firm Stevenson Company, the Seoul-headquartered electronics giant said it took the top spot in the U.S. market last year with its market share exceeding 25 percent for three straight years, last year at 25.1 percent.  A staffer at a Fry‘s Electronics store in Nevada explains the features of LG Electronics’ Twin Wash

Jan. 22, 2016

Korea's IT spending to expand 2.4% in 2016

(KOTRA)South Korea's spending on information technology products and services is expected to grow 2.4 percent in 2016 from the previous year, data showed Friday.Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to spend 86.1 trillion won ($71.4 billion) on IT products and services this year, according to the data compiled by industry tracker Gartner Inc.Of the amount, expenditures on fixed-line and mobile network services are estimated to account for 40.8 trillion won, followed by spending on smartphone

Jan. 22, 2016

[Photo News] SKT's budget smartphone Sol gains popularity

BUDGET HANDSET GAINS STEAM -- Mobile carrier SK Telecom said Friday that its 5.5-inch budget smartphone Sol, which comes with a price tag of 399,300 won ($332), has attracted around 10,000 preorders for just three days since Tuesday this week. (SKT)

Jan. 22, 2016

SK hynix launches support group for workers stricken with leukemia

Semiconductor-maker SK hynix said Friday it has launched a committee to support and compensate its workers who developed life-threatening diseases, including various cancers and leukemia, while working at the firm’s chip factories.The establishment of the support and compensation group is in line with the firm’s efforts to comply with proposals made last November by an inspection committee for workplace safety and health at the chipmaker, consisting of 11 medical specialists, scholars, industry

Jan. 22, 2016