LG Innotek projected to post two straight quarters of operating loss

[THE INVESTOR] Camera module maker LG Innotek’s second-quarter operating profit will likely miss the market consensus due to the lackluster sales performance of its partners that include U.S.-based Apple and LG Electronics, according to an investment report.The Seoul-based LG Group affiliate is expected to post an operating loss of 20.4 billion won (US$17.4 million), far below the average of 10.8 billion won in operating profit forecast by a group of investment firms, according to Hana Financial

June 17, 2016

Foreign investors’ stake in Samsung Electronics exceeds 50%

[THE INVESTOR] The stake of foreign investors in Samsung Electronics hit the highest level on June 16 in around seven months.The shares owned by foreign investors accounted for 50.7 percent -- the highest since Nov. 2, 2015, according to Korean Exchange, the sole securities exchange operator.Despite increasing fears of the UK’s exit from the European Union, they bought 560 billion won (US$447 million) worth of Samsung shares from June 1 to 16. The share price jumped to 1.4 million won in recent

June 17, 2016

Samsung’s Joyent buy not enough to take on AWS: analyst

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is expected to get a big boost with its recent acquisition of US-based cloud service start-up Joyent but it would be still not enough to compete head-on with the market No. 1 Amazon Web Service, or AWS.Samsung did not reveal the acquisition price for the deal that was announced on June 16. Global Innovation Center, its Silicon Valley start-up accelerator, is said to have led the whole process. After the acquisition, Joyent will be run as a separate entity under

June 17, 2016

SK hynix to launch LPDDR4X mobile chip later this year

[THE INVESTOR] SK hynix plans to launch more energy efficient, next-generation dynamic random-access memory or DRAM chip solutions into the market in the second half of this year. The chipmaker unveiled the plan at a meeting with suppliers held in Shenzhen, China, on June 16. The new solution, called low power double data rate 4 X or LPDDR4X, boasts 20 percent higher energy efficiency compared to the current LPDDR4.Samsung Electronics, the global No. 1 memory chip maker, had already announced th

June 17, 2016

Kakao to split its business into two arms

[THE INVESTOR] Mobile messenger operator Kakao is reportedly planning to split its services business into two divisions -- social network and portal.The social network division will be in charge of running its flagship social networking services including KakaoTalk and KakaoStory while the portal business will be operating news platform Daum News and content platform KakaoTalk Channel among others.KakaoTalk ChannelLim Sung-young, director of the firm’s media content team, will head the portal bu

June 17, 2016

Samsung named most respected brand in Asia

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has been named the most respected brand in Asia for five consecutive years, a recent survey found June 17. Campaign Asia-Pacific and Nielsen recently conducted the Asia Top 1000 Brand survey on consumers in 13 Asian countries. The Korean tech giant has topped the survey since 2012. Its archrival Apple was ranked second, followed by Sony, Nestle, Panasonic, Nike, LG, Canon, Chanel and Adidas. (theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)

June 17, 2016

Prosecutors take vandalism case involving LGE CEO to highest court

[THE INVESTOR] The Korean prosecution has decided to appeal to the Supreme Court in a so-called washing machine row involving Jo Sung-jin, the chief executive of LG Electronics' home appliances and air solutions, after the lower courts ruled in favor of the LG CEO earlier this month.The prosecutors’ office appealed to the highest court on June 15 after the two lower courts acquitted CEO Jo and two of his aides on charges of damaging Samsung Electronics' washing machines at retail shops during th

June 17, 2016

KT embroiled in lawsuit with shareholders

[THE INVESTOR] A group of KT’s shareholders on June 16 filed a lawsuit against the telecommunications company for allegedly infringing on their right to speak at the shareholders meeting in March.The minority shareholders claimed in their complaint that the firm intentionally blocked them from entering the venue of the meeting for three hours in order to fill the front row seats with employee shareholders who sided with the firm. “KT deliberately gave only those employee stockholders in the fron

June 17, 2016

UHD to become new norm in TV market

[THE INVESTOR] The chief of a global industry group that sets ultrahigh-definition technology standards said UHD technology would soon replace high-definition technology as the new norm in the industry. Speaking with Korean reporters in Seoul on Wednesday, UHD Alliance president Hanno Basse said members of the alliance would continue to make concerted efforts to improve the viewing experience of TVs. Samsung Electronics’ SUHD TVs.“It will not take long for UHD TVs to replace HD TVs, probably 5 y

June 17, 2016

Samsung shows growing appetite for start-up M&As

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has been actively seeking merger and acquisition deals of start-ups in the past couple of years.The list of its takeovers showed that the world’s largest electronics manufacturer has been focused on making a move into the software and cloud sectors and beefing up its presence in the business-to-business segment. Since 2014, the Korean tech giant acquired nine companies, including video app services developer firm SELBY in May 2014, SmartThings in Aug. 2014, pri

June 17, 2016

LG Display starts W1tr investment to beef up OLED production

[THE INVESTOR] LG Display has started executing its 1 trillion won (US$850 million) investment into the Korean plants to beef up production of organic light-emitting diode panels both for TVs and smartphones. The display-making unit of LG Group is also ordering new equipment from local suppliers, the Electronic Times reported on June 17. According to the report, the company is replacing production line for liquid-crystal displays at its P8 plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, with those for larger

June 17, 2016

LG Electronics denies downsizing mobile division

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics on June 16 dismissed a news report that the Korean tech giant is preparing to reduce about 1,000 employees at its struggling mobile business division. “We are relocating some employees to other business divisions as disclosed in May, but we are not considering any job cuts,” an LG Electronics spokesperson told The Investor, a brand new online business news site recently launched by The Korea Herald. “Some hundreds of workers have been relocated on a regular basis,”

June 16, 2016

SK Plantet named e-commerce company of the year

[THE INVESTOR] SK Planet has been named the Telecom eCommerce Service Provider of the Year for its mobile marketing brand Syrup, the company said Thursday.The award was presented to the firm at the 2016 Asia Pacific ICT Awards in Singapore on Wednesday. It was hosted by the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan and this was the 13th year of the awards.　Frost & Sullivan said that SK Planet was chosen for the award because Syrup had increased value to customers through omni-channel competitiveness, and

June 16, 2016

[ANALYST REPORT] Samsung Electronics: 2Q16 preview

We now expect Samsung Electronics (SEC) to post operating profit of KRW7.65tn (+15% QoQ) for 2Q16, driven mainly by strong sales of Galaxy S7 smartphones. SEC has recently been establishing clear leadership over rivals in technological advancement, backed by bold, preemptive investments. We thus maintain our BUY rating for SEC and raise our target price to KRW1,650,000.2Q16 previewFor 2Q16, we expect SEC to report sales of KRW50.03tn (+0.5% QoQ), operating profit of KRW7.65tn (+15% QoQ), and net

June 16, 2016

Netflix to expand presence in Korea

[THE INVESTOR] Netflix, the US-based streaming giant, is hiring Korean staff at its local unit to strengthen its presence in the market. The company recently posted four job openings on its own website and LinkedIn, including senior software engineer, partner marketing manager, integrated producer and business development director.The world’s largest video-streaming service with more than 70 million subscribers launched its Korean service in January this year. The Korean launch came as part of t

June 16, 2016

Samsung launches $140 Galaxy On5 in US

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is making a big push in the US budget smartphone market with its planned launch of the $140 Galaxy On5. According to CNET, the phone will be sold by both T-Mobile and its prepaid brand, MetroPCS. It comes in at $140 outright, or for zero down payment and $5.83 a month for 24 months. Samsung Galaxy On5Key features include a 5-inch display, a 5-megapizel camera with an LED flash on the back, a 2-megapixel camera on the front and a 2,600mAh battery. Previously, th

June 16, 2016

Samsung acquires US cloud service start-up Joyent

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics said on June 16 it has acquired a US-based cloud service provider Joyent in its latest start-up shopping spree. With the acquisition, Samsung aims to strengthen its presence in the soaring cloud market, offering more advanced mobile services in the era of the Internet of Things technology. Detailed terms of the deal were not disclosed.  Screen capture of Joyent`s homepage“Samsung evaluated a wide range of potential companies in the public and private cloud infr

June 16, 2016

Samsung Display tops global AMOLED sales: IHS

[THE INVESTOR]Samsung Display has topped global sales of small and midsized active mode organic-light emitting diode display in the first quarter, a market research firm said on June 16. The display-making unit of Samsung Electronics dominated with 30.6 percent market share in terms of sales, followed by Japan Display with 17.1 percent and LG Display with 12.9 percent in the first three months of the year, according to the IHS.In terms of shipments, Samsung’s AMOLED displays made up about 14.4 p

June 16, 2016

LG launches ‘Mosquito Away TV’ in India

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics on June 16 announced the launch of a new brand of television, called “Mosquito Away TV,” in India where concerns about mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, Zika and dengue fever are high. The new TV set generates ultrasonic waves so that mosquitos are repelled and won’t flock to the TV screen. The ultrasonic waves, however, do not bother viewers, the company said. LG also said it plans to launch the brand in other Southeast Asian markets.The Korean tech giant said

June 16, 2016

Samsung’s new Galaxy Note to feature curved screen

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is expected to adopt a curved screen for its new Galaxy Note to replicate the sales momentum of its hot-selling Galaxy S7 Edge. According to news reports on June 16, the Korean tech giant plans to start rolling out the upcoming Note Phablet from July with the initial production estimated to stand at about 2.5 million units per month. A leaked snap of an invite graphic shared by SamMobile.Samsung declined to confirm the reports. The company is scheduled to hold

June 16, 2016