The Korea Herald

Samsung Electronics logs W6.25tr in Q2 net profit

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top maker of smartphones, said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell 19.5 percent from a year earlier as its mainstay handset business suffered from rising competition in the global market.Net income came to 6.25 trillion won ($6.1 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 7.77 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales fell 8.89 percent on-year to 52.35 trillion won in the second quarter. Its operating profit cam

July 31, 2014

Samsung rolls out industry’s first bendable UHD TV

South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it would start sales of the industry’s first bendable ultra HD TV this week.The 78-inch UHD TV, to be available for preorders in Seoul from Friday, has adopted “UHD Dimming” technology, as well as a “Black Crystal Panel,” to provide users with a more vivid screen, Samsung said.“Users can enjoy a different experience through the bendable UHD TV,” said Kim Hyun-suk, an official from Samsung’s display division. “We will continue our eff

July 31, 2014

Seoul shares retreat on weak corporate earnings

South Korean stocks ended lower on Thursday, snapping its four-session winning streak as investor sentiment was battered by sluggish second-quarter corporate earnings by tech companies, analysts said. The South Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 6.49 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,076.12. Trading volume was moderate at 377.4 million shares worth 5.98 trillion won ($5.82 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 427 to 382. The KOSPI surged t

July 31, 2014

Samsung Electronics logs 6.25 tln won in Q2 net profit

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of smartphones, said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell 19.5 percent from a year earlier as its mainstay handset business suffered from rising competition in the global market.Net income came to 6.25 trillion won (US$6.1 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 7.77 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales fell 8.89 percent on-year to 52.35 trillion won in the second quarter. Its operating profit ca

July 31, 2014

Samsung’s smartphone market share plunges in Q2

South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. saw its market share in the smartphone industry plunge in the second quarter from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, dented by the rise of Chinese players vying with low-end models.Samsung took up 25.2 percent of the global smartphone market in the April-June period, down 7.1 percentage points from the 32.3 percent posted last year, the data compiled by market researcher IDC Corp. showed. It shipped a combined 74.3 million units of smartphones

July 30, 2014

Samsung SDS to raise share cap

Samsung SDS, Korea’s biggest IT solutions provider, said on Tuesday that it would raise the ceiling in the number of share issuances to secure capital for future business and acquisitions.The limit will be increased to 200 million shares from 120 million shares, of which the company added more than 70 percent shares are already being traded in the off-exchange market.Samsung SDS holds an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in Seoul on Tuesday. (Samsung SDS)The decision came after Samsung SDS hel

July 30, 2014

LG Group bets big on energy solutions

Efficient-energy management has become important for companies as they seek to reduce costs and protect the environment.LG Group affiliates, including LG Electronics, LG Chem and LG CNS, are in full swing to develop an energy solutions business, which is expected to be the group’s next growth engine after consumer electronics and smartphones.LG CNS officials inspect the company’s smart lighting system installed at LG Display’s plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. (LG CNS)“We should strive to shake

July 30, 2014

Wearables will need more power efficiency

Application processors for wearable devices need to be more power-efficient to fit into the small gadgets, an industry watcher said. “Currently, the performance of application processers for smart watches is much lower than those for smartphones because wearables can only use small batteries,” said Lee Hyuck-jae, head of the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology’s department of system semiconductors.An application processor, which is the equivalent of a PC’s central processing unit

July 30, 2014

Wearables will need more power efficiency

Korean-Americans return to help Korean start-ups

For David Lee, Korea is a land of opportunity. At first, this might sound strange. Looking at David’s impressive resume, Korea seems like it might be the last place on his mind. Google hired him in the early days as one of its first employees. He was responsible for bringing Google into Asia, Europe and Latin America. The phrase “land of opportunity” evokes imagery of years of immigration to the developed world in search of a better life. It does not seem to fit someone who is a limited partner

July 30, 2014

Korean-Americans return to help Korean start-ups

Korea starts PR campaign for ITU conference

With less than 80 days until the landmark ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it would zero in on promoting the global IT event beginning Aug. 1.The ministry said Wednesday that it will use Busan’s resources and summer festivals to display the ITU logo and introduce the global event on the streets to the some 1 million people who visit the coastal city during their summer break each year.Korean athletes, TV stars and singers, including J

July 30, 2014

Samsung's smartphone market share plunges in Q2

South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. saw its market share in the smartphone industry plunge in the second quarter from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, dented by the rise of Chinese players vying with low-end models.Samsung took up 25.2 percent of the global smartphone market in the April-June period, down 7.1 percentage points from the 32.3 percent posted last year, the data compiled by market researcher IDC Corp. showed. It shipped a combined 74.3 million units of smartphones

July 30, 2014

South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is the most popular smartphone brand in a handful of emerging markets, a survey showed Monday, outdoing rivals at home and abroad such as Apple Inc. of the United States and local competitor LG Electronics Inc.In the poll conducted by Credit Suisse Research Institute on 15,873 users from nine emerging countries ― Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey ― around 30 percent responded that given the choi

July 28, 2014

South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is the most popular smartphone brand in a handful of emerging markets, a survey showed Monday, outdoing rivals at home and abroad such as Apple Inc. of the United States and local competitor LG Electronics Inc.In the poll conducted by Credit Suisse Research Institute on 15,873 users from nine emerging countries -- Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey -- around 30 percent responded that given the ch

July 28, 2014

Smartphone users expected to hit 2.5 bln in 2015: research

The global number of smartphone users is expected to reach 2.5 billion by the end of 2015, research showed Monday, as more tech players are releasing low-end models to appeal to wider markets.Around 34.7 percent of the world's 7.2 billion population estimated for 2015 will use smartphones, an industry tracker Strategy Analytics's report showed, which had said the number surpassed the 1-billion mark in 2012.Industry watchers attributed the rising number to the expansion of low-end smartphones rel

July 28, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea seen as technology winner

A fast-rising technology pioneer and the home ground of Samsung ― these are what come to mind when citizens of 17 major countries think of South Korea, according to a recent survey by Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Respondents in India, Vietnam and Turkey were the most favorable toward Asia’s fourth-largest economy, while those in Poland, Germany and Egypt had relatively negative impressions.The corresponding survey was conducted last October with an aim to devise customized regional diplom

July 27, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea seen as technology winner

[Herald Interview] ‘Uber can do more good than harm for Seoul’

Calvin Kang. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)Uber, a fast-growing car-sharing app based out of Silicon Valley, said it can boost a wider range of transportation choices for consumers, and encourage the local cab industry to improve its services and abolish malpractices such as ride refusals and overcharging.Calvin Kang, general manager of Uber Korea, said that it hopes to convince the Seoul government via a dialogue to see these positive social effects from having Uber maintain operations in the

July 27, 2014

[Herald Interview] ‘Uber can do more good than harm for Seoul’

Foreigners criticize Seoul’s Uber ban

Foreign residents in Korea who have been discontented with Korea’s conventional taxi services have increasingly opted to use Uber, the smartphone car-hailing application.And those foreigners are fuming at the latest move by the Seoul government to block Uber from operating in the city.“Uber has solved every problem that foreigners and tourists have with Seoul taxi services. There is no waiting, no negotiating, and no ‘I won’t go there’ with Uber services,” said Sam, a 45-year-old businessman, ca

July 27, 2014

Innolux outpaces Samsung Display in large-LCD market share

Taiwanese display maker Innolux saw its share of the large-sized liquid crystal display market outpace that of Samsung Display for the first time in the second quarter, data showed Sunday, mainly as the South Korean player focused on panels for smartphones.Innolux’s global market share for 9.1-inch-and-wider LCD panels came to 20.2 percent in the April-June period, compared with the 18.7 percent posted by Samsung Display, the data compiled by industry researcher DisplaySearch showed.The second-q

July 27, 2014

[Weekender] End of privacy

Shortly after the Sewol ferry sank in April, South Korean authorities hurriedly combed the messages and photos stored in the victims’ Kakao Talk chats to learn more about the tragic sinking.One might wonder how such a probe was made possible, given that the victims were still missing. The fact was that Kakao Talk stores users’ private messages for about a week on its own server. Through a search warrant, the police could scrutinize private messages. The implication is, if anything, unnerving. Mo

July 25, 2014

[Weekender] Poor cybersecurity plagues Koreans

In July 2011, a hacking attack on SK Communications, operator of the once-popular social media site Cyworld, resulted in a data leakage involving over 35 million people. It marked the largest theft of personal data in the history of the world’s most wired country.Three years on and some half a dozen cyberattacks later, cybersecurity experts say that virtually any Korean who sign on to a website, has a credit card or plays an online game should be aware of a scary fact: their personal data is act

July 25, 2014

[Weekender] Poor cybersecurity plagues Koreans