[THE INVESTOR] The nation’s top entertainment agencies’ founders saw their stock wealth tumble this year as their all-important Chinese business is being hit hard by the government’s decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here. Shares of the top four companies -- SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, Keyeast and FNC Entertainment -- plunged more than 20 percent over the past months, bringing down the stock assets of their celebrity founders. SM Entertainmnet Chairman Lee

Sept. 12, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] LG Chem, the chemicals unit of LG Group, said on Sept. 12 that it will be merging with LG Life Science, its smaller drug-making sister firm, within the year with aims to focus resources into nurturing biotechnology as its new growth engine business. Shareholders of both companies approved the merger plan on the day. The final approval will be made on Nov. 28, with the new entity being launched on Jan. 1 next year. Based on stock prices over the past three months, one LG Life Scien

Sept. 12, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics plans to sell its printer business unit to HP of the US, according to news reports on Sept. 9.The move is said to be in line with Samsung’s efforts to streamline its businesses sprawled around in a range of sectors and put more focus on flagship businesses.Samsung used to be in partnership with the US firm in the printer business in the past. The Korean tech firm told the news media that it could not confirm the news reports on the sale of the printer business.

Sept. 9, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is expected to secure all batteries for its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone from China’s ATL amid its recall of 2.5 million units using Samsung SDI batteries.　“A high-ranking Samsung official last week asked ATL to increase the monthly supply to 4 million battery cells,” an ATL executive was quoted as saying by Economic Times on Sept. 9. “We have decided to do so.” 　Following its recall decision of Note phones on faulty batteries last week, Samsung announced it would

Sept. 9, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is considering ditching a flat-screen version for its next flagship Galaxy 8 that is expected to come out next year with a curved display only, industry sources said on Sept. 8. The move comes after the Galaxy S7 Edge outpaced its flat-screen sibling in terms of sales. Now the Korean tech giant is promoting the curvy screen as its premium smartphone lineup’s key identity. Sources said the company has already started securing display panels in two sizes -- 5.1 i

Sept. 8, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] LG Innotek, the parts-making unit of LG Group, and smartphone case maker Spigen Korea are expected to benefit from Apple’s new iPhone 7 that was unveiled on Sept. 7 in San Francisco. “New iPhones have always suffered supply constraints for newly adopted parts in the early days of launch but for the latest iPhone 7 the overall parts supply is more stable than previous years,” said Lee Seung-hyuk, analyst at Korea Investment and Securities. Especially LG Innotek, the sole supplier o

Sept. 8, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics is considering a capital increase to help out its financially-struggling overseas branches, including those in China and Egypt, Money Today, a local news daily, reported on Sept. 8. According to the report, the company’s sales operations in China and Egypt have paid-in capital already impaired by losses or are unable to cover interest costs with what they earn. LG Electronics China, established in 1995, posted a net loss of 34.7 billion won last year due to sluggish

Sept. 8, 2016