Naver chief to meet media ahead of LINE IPO

[THE INVESTOR] Lee Hae-jin, the reclusive leader of Internet giant Naver, will make an appearance at a press meeting on July 15 when the company’s subsidiary and mobile messenger operator LINE goes public in Japan“Naver board chairman Lee will attend a press meeting in Seoul on the same day when LINE is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange,” said Kim Hyun-ji, a public relations representative of the firm, adding the exact schedule and place are yet to be finalized. It will be Lee’s first appearanc

July 7, 2016

Hyosung joins effort to help game start-ups’ China expansion

[THE INVESTOR] Hyosung Group, a South Korean industrial conglomerate, and North Jeolla Province have joined the efforts to help local game start-ups gain a foothold in China. Hyosung Group and four other organizations, including South Jeolla Provincial Office and HN Games, formed a business agreement on July 7 at the Jeonbuk Creative Economy and Innovation Center, the company said. Under the plan, Hyosung plans to invest 1 billion won (US$ 864,650). The company, in partnership with the organizat

July 7, 2016

Huawei files new patent suit against Samsung in China

[THE INVESTOR] Chinese tech firm Huawei has filed a complaint at Chinese district courts against South Korean rival Samsung Electronics for breaching its patent for mobile icon and widget designs. The Chinese firm reportedly argued in its complaint filed at the courts in Shenzhen and Quanzhou on July 6 that Samsung used without permission Hauwei’s patent on how to display mobile application icons in a folder and widgets on the smartphone screen.Huawei demanded 80 million Chinese yuan (US$12 mill

July 7, 2016

OLED equipment market for Apple to reach W15tr by 2020

[THE INVESETOR] With Apple’s planned adoption of organic light-emitting diode display for its iPhone next year, the related equipment market is estimated to reach US$13 billion by 2020, a local research firm said July 7. According to UBI Research, orders from Apple alone could make up about 47 percent of the global equipment market for sixth-generation flexible OLED, worth US$28.4 billion for the next five years. Apple’s iPhone 6SThe sixth-generation flexible OLED is increasingly adopted for sma

July 7, 2016

Samsung unveils superfast 256GB UFS

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest chipmaker, on July 7 unveiled the industry’s first 256GB Universal Flash Storage, or UFS Card, with a reading speed five times that of a conventional MicroSD Card. The card has the highest capacity in the market for an external memory card and boasts a reading speed of 530 MBps, equivalent to that of a 2.5-inch solid-state drive, or SSD, the company said. The latest card can read a full HD video (5GB) in 10 seconds. It will also be useful f

July 7, 2016

LG Electronics partners with Volkswagen for connected car platform

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics said July 7 that it would join forces with German carmaker Volkswagen to develop a platform for connected cars. The South tech firm recently signed a partnership deal with VW to develop a smart car platform allowing drivers to directly connect their cars over cloud systems with other connected devices at home. Smart car solution on a screen. LG Electronics“LG’s expertise in smart technology and VW’s leading automotive tech will pave new ways for drivers to communica

July 7, 2016

KT to nurture 20 start-ups this year

[THE INVESTOR] KT, South Korea’s leading telecommunications company, will pour 2 billion won (US$1.7 million) to foster 20 start-ups this year, the company said on July 7. In line with the investment plan, the company held the so-called “speed dating” pitching event, at its headquarters in Seoul on the same day. At the event, start-ups suggest their ideas to attract investment and KT executives choose candidates to receive marketing and financial support on the spot. Among the start-ups selected

July 7, 2016

Components to drive up Samsung’s Q3 profits

[THE INVESTOR] Expectations are high on Samsung Electronics’ third-quarter profits after the company released its second-quarter earnings guidance that beat analyst estimates on July 7. According to its tentative earnings report, the Korean tech giant posted more than 8 trillion won (US$7.6 billion) in operating profits and 50 trillion won in sales in the April-June period. Analysts say the company will continue the current momentum in coming months. Samsung Electronics’ headquarters in Suwon, G

July 7, 2016

Samsung, SK hynix to benefit from rise of DRAM prices in Q3

[THE INVESTOR] With DRAM prices hitting rock bottom, the global DRAM market has been in the doldrums over the past couple years. According to a market report on July 7, however, the DRAM market will likely pick up steam in the July-September period thanks to increasing demand in the mobile and server markets.“The downward trend in DRAM prices over the past two years has reversed in June,” said DRAMeXchange in its recent report, forecasting the price increase rate would be in the range of between

July 7, 2016

Samsung Electronics sells 26 million Galaxy S7 phones

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics, which forecast its best quarterly profit in more than two years, is estimated to have sold about 26 million units of its flagship smartphone Galaxy S7 that was launched in March. In its second-quarter earnings guidance announced on July 7, the Korean tech giant said it posted an operating profit of 8.1 trillion won (US$7 billion) while its sales would come in at 50 trillion won. Even though the company didn’t break down earnings of individual business division

July 7, 2016

[URGENT] Samsung Electronics posts US$7b operating profits in Q2

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics estimated in its earnings guidance for the April-June period on July 7 that it would post approximately 8.1 trillion won (US$7 billion) in operating profit in the second quarter while its revenue would come in at 50 trillion won.The estimated operating income and revenue for the second quarter increased from 6.9 trillion won and 48.5 trillion won, respectively, in the same period last year. Samsung Electronics president and mobile chief Koh Dong-jin poses at th

July 7, 2016

Korean display-makers to lead OLED sector next decade: IHS

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean display-makers such as Samsung Display and LG Display will maintain their lead in the organic light-emitting diode sector for the next decade, according to a market research firm.“Samsung Display and LG Display will be leading the OLED market for up to 10 years,” said Ricky Park, director of IHS at the OLED Frontier Forum held in Seoul on July 5. “Unlike liquid-crystal displays, OLED requires years of investment and high production expertise, so Chinese displays compa

July 6, 2016

SKT offers free navigation app to take on KakaoNavi

[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom has recently decided to offer its immensely popular navigation app T-Map for free to all mobile users. T-Map is the nation’s No. 1 mobile navigation service with more than 8 million users. But the company offered the service for free only to SK Telecom subscribers. Some 230 million mobile users subscribing network services of KT, LG Uplus and other budget plans are expected to benefit from the free service from July 19. The decision comes as Kakao is expanding its onlin

July 6, 2016

‘Samsung seeks to take on LG in larger OLED’

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Display has long gauged the marketability of large-size organic light-emitting diode displays due to their low production yields and high prices. The display-making unit of Samsung Electronics, however, is said to be speeding up preparations to jump into the sector in earnest, testing a series of technologies to improve production capability. Kateeva’s OLED inkjet printer / The Investor“Kateeva will supply the prototypes of its inkjet printers to its global customers in Ko

July 6, 2016