Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has carried out a reshuffle of its executives in its smartphones and home appliances units, the first high-level moves made since it has been embroiled in a corruption scandal. “The company has decided to carry out the reshuffle as further delaying it, after failing to do so last year, would lower the metabolism of the organization,” a Samsung Electronics spokesperson said, meaning the continued tenure of the retirees-to-be has created congestion for personne

Industry May 11, 2017

South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in is expected to keep intact the current Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, a unit symbolic of ousted President Park Geun-hye’s administration. In 2013, the ICT Ministry was set up with much fanfare by Park, emphasizing the creative economy, although the drive was criticized as lacking progress.  A tech seminar is held by ICT Minister Choi Yang-hee at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning in January.(Ministry of Science, ICT and Future

Industry May 10, 2017

Online searches related to Korea’s presidential election topped two search engines here Tuesday, when the country’s citizens went to the polls. The top seven most popular keywords in Korean on Google Trends -- which tracks the popularity of search terms -- were all related to the election, except for one search term: “A Silent Voice,” a Japanese movie released Tuesday. (Google)The most popular was “presidential election,” which saw at least 200,000 searches on the day. It was followed by “electi

Industry May 9, 2017

Samsung Electronics’ smartphone sales dropped by more than half in China in the first quarter of this year, according to a Hong Kong-based research firm. The Korean tech giant is losing its market share to Chinese brands, including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, in the world’s largest smartphone market.  Samsung Galaxy S8 (right) and Galaxy S8 Plus (Yonhap)According to the latest report published by Counterpoint Technology Market Research, shipments of Samsung Electronics smartphones fell around 60 perc

Industry May 9, 2017

Some Facebook users in Korea were unable to access their social media accounts Tuesday morning, the day of the country’s presidential election.At around 10 a.m., users said they tried to log into their Facebook accounts, but were not able to gain access for around 50 minutes. The site only said, “Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.”The Korean arm of the social media giant issued a statement around 11:30 a.m., saying, “Some users had difficul

Technology May 9, 2017

Samsung Group is expected to carry out a reshuffle of its executives as early as this month, company sources said Monday. Korea’s largest conglomerate usually carries out reshuffles and appointments of its executives, as well as CEOs, in December. However, Samsung delayed last year’s appointments after the company was embroiled in a corruption scandal which led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye and the arrest of Lee Jae-yong, the company’s de facto leader.“It is true there is

Industry May 8, 2017

Korea launched its fourth broadcasting and communications satellite, Korea Sat-7, Friday, according to Korean satellite operator KT SAT. KT SAT, owned by Korea Telecom, said it launched its new satellite Korea Sat-7, also called Mugunghwa-7, at 7:27 a.m. at the Guiana Space Center at Kourou in French Guiana. The company now operates four satellites, including the Korea Sat-5, Korea Sat-6 and Chollian. “The ICT Ministry has already completed the registration with the International Telecommunicati

Industry May 5, 2017

When flowers are in full bloom, trees are green and spring is in the air, children show us happiness comes from little things. On one sunny day of early May that is the beginning of spring, family theme park Seoul Children’s Grand Park, located in the Gwangjin district of eastern Seoul, was full of children having fun with their parents. Many of them looked happy and laughed out loud, simply running on the grass or smelling the scents of flowers. Some screamed out of excitement on a ride rotatin

Culture May 5, 2017

The price gap between Apple and Samsung Electronics’ smartphones has widened to over $400 for the first time, according to a US research firm. The latest report released by Strategy Analytics showed Friday the gap of the average selling price between the two tech giants’ long-term evolution phones widened to a record-breaking $465 in the fourth quarter of last year. Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S8, which was launched in the second quarter this year, was not included in the research. In the Octobe

Industry May 5, 2017

LG Electronics is expanding its lucrative premium appliances in emerging nations. The Korean tech giant’s home appliance unit’s record-breaking operating profits in the first quarter were mainly driven by strong sales of its premium appliances in North America. Sales generated in the market last year accounted for around 30 percent of the company’s total sales. Shipment of the firm’s organic light-emitting diode TVs also doubled in the US market during the period.  LG Electronics’ premium brand

Industry May 4, 2017

The US International Trade Commission began investigating whether the US smartphone maker Blu infringed standard patents of LG Electronics’ Long Term Evolution, according to the independent federal agency. Blu, established in 2009, is the sixth-largest handset maker in the North American market, selling low-end phones worth below $300. The firm sold around 5.2 million units last year -- a 68 percent growth from the previous year. LG Electronics is the third-largest handset maker in the US, with

Technology May 3, 2017

Samsung Electronics is predicted to become the world’s largest chipmaker in the coming quarter, displacing Intel, which has retained the top spot for the past 24 years. Intel has been the world’s top semiconductor manufacturer since 1993, when it introduced its Pentium-branded processors, which sent sales of personal computers soaring to new heights. However, the recent trends of a continued rise in prices and demand for memory chips are driving Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, to

Industry May 2, 2017

China’s top three smartphone makers, Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, are catching up with the market shares of Samsung and Apple, based on their affordable prices and premium stylings, according to a US research firm. According to the latest report published by IDC, the combined smartphone shipments by the three Chinese firms increased by 15.5 million units on-year to 77.9 million units in the first quarter. During the same period, Samsung and Apple remained essentially flat with shipments reaching 79.2

Industry April 30, 2017

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it had posted 9.9 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in operating income in the first quarter, recording a nearly 50 percent on-year jump. The tech giant is forecast to post a record-breaking 12 trillion won in the next quarter due to strong sales of chips and smartphones, analysts said. Samsung said it posted 50 trillion won in sales, a 1.5 percent on-year increase, in the first three months of the year. The operating profit was the largest since 10 trillion won marke

Industry April 27, 2017