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

Technology Jan. 25, 2016

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

Technology Jan. 24, 2016

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

Technology Jan. 24, 2016

Expectations are high for French ad giant Publicis Groupe’s rumored purchase of a controlling stake in Cheil Worldwide, Samsung Group’s advertising agency.According to news reports and industry sources Monday, Publicis, one of the world’s top three ad companies, is considering acquiring a 30-percent stake in Cheil, which has a market value of $1.9 billion. Publicis and Cheil have not yet released respective official statements about the reports, but industry watchers see their partnership as ver

Technology Jan. 18, 2016

A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday, killing 10 foreigners _ most of them German tourists _ and wounding 15 other people in the latest in a string of attacks by the Islamic extremists targeting Westerners.The blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque and a former Byzantine church in the city’s storied Sultanahmet district, was the first by IS to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although IS militants have struck with deadly effect e

World News Jan. 12, 2016

Samsung Electronics promoted David Eun, executive vice president and head of the Global Innovation Center, the company’s start-up accelerator based in Silicon Valley, to president, in a move that was effective Jan. 1.  “It’s a signal from Samsung that the company is committed to software services,” he said of his recent promotion last week. Eun, 47, has become the youngest president at Samsung. He joined the company four year ago. Prior to that, he worked at AOL and Google. Over the past few yea

Technology Jan. 12, 2016

According to Chinese zodiac, 2016 is supposed to be the Year of the Monkey. Moreover, people born in the monkey years (1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004 and 2016) are said to be smart, lively and quick-witted like forever-playful simians. With the Lunar New Year starting on Feb. 8, business leaders born in these years are also gaining fresh attention. In particular, several CEOs were born in the year 1968 and are called “Earth Monkeys.” The 48-year-old Earth Monkeys are said to be honest,

Industry Jan. 12, 2016

Dec. 9, 2015 was a big day for South Korea’s top two conglomerates -- Samsung and Hyundai Motor. Samsung announced it would set up a new team dedicated to car parts for infotainment systems and self-driving cars, while Hyundai said it would start developing automotive chips through its own electronics unit.Technological convergence across industries has become an increasing trend in recent years, with the automotive sector becoming a fierce battlefield for tech firms and carmakers in the era of

Technology Dec. 31, 2015

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog on Sunday said that the recent merger of Samsung affiliates has tightened cross-shareholdings among group companies, ordering its battery unit to reduce its stake in the holding company. “The number of cross-shareholding links may have been reduced to seven from 10 following the merger of Samsung C&T with Cheil Industries (on Sept. 1),” the Fair Trade Commission said in a statement. “But we have found the ties have been further strengthened.”The current antitrust

Technology Dec. 27, 2015

Technology Dec. 27, 2015

Samsung and LG, the nation’s top two smartphone-makers, are feeling the pinch of enhanced competition on their home turf, a market that used to be called a “tomb” for foreign handset-makers. Despite being squeezed between Apple’s iPhone and cheaper phones from Chinese runners-up in the global market, the two Korean tech giants have long enjoyed dominant market positions at home. But more recently foreign brands are fast gobbling up their market shares, forcing Samsung and LG to turn to less prof

Technology Dec. 27, 2015

LG Electronics said Wednesday it would unveil its new high-end home appliance brand “LG Signature” during the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month. After its official debut at the world’s largest electronics trade show, the brand will roll out in the U.S., Europe and Korea in the first half of next year, the company said.  The new brand represents the sleek design and upgraded product quality of its high-end home appliances. This is the first time for LG to have a subbrand

Technology Dec. 23, 2015

LG Uplus CEO and vice chairman Kwon Young-soo made his first visit to retail shops in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to inspect sales activities and encourage employees this week. Kwon took office on Nov. 27 to lead the nation’s No. 3 telecom company. Over the past month, the company said he has met executives, managers and working-level employees to better communicate with them.  “Creative services can make a big difference. We can find solutions through field management,” he said during a store v

Technology Dec. 23, 2015