Samsung Electronics’ chief financial officer said the company plans to announce the company’s plan to split itself as scheduled. “Regardless of the group issue (political scandal and the company heir’s arrest), we plan to review and announce the split plan as scheduled because that is what we promised to our shareholders,” Lee Sang-hoon, Samsung Electronics CFO, told reporters following a business conference held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce ＆ Industry on Tuesday. As to how to convene the co

Industry March 14, 2017

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn met with General Electric Chairman Jeffrey Immelt at the company’s headquarters in Seoul on Monday to seek new business partnerships, the company said Tuesday. According to Hanwha, Kim and Immelt talked about seeking new growth engines by adding value to the manufacturing sector based on industrial internet technologies. The two heads also discussed how to further cooperate on the aero engine and gas turbine sectors, which Hanwha Techwin and GE have partnered

Industry March 14, 2017

With its rival LG Electronics’ new flagship smartphone G6 off to smooth sales, Samsung Electronics has made a rare move to release an ad for the Galaxy S8 on TV three weeks ahead of its official launch.Such advertisements are usually unveiled one or two weeks prior to the official launch.LG said over the weekend that the G6 sold more than 30,000 units over the first two days since its launch Friday. Its preorders exceeded 82,000 units during the eight days that began March 2. “Although the initi

Industry March 13, 2017

After South Korea’s Constitutional Court’s decision Friday to uphold the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, the case involving arrested Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong may take a new turn, experts and industry watchers said. In the historic ruling that immediately stripped Park of her power, acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said, “President Park’s direct and indirect support in the establishment of the Mir and K-Sports foundations violated the companies’ property right

Industry March 10, 2017

Korea and China are on the verge of a cyberwar as Chinese hackers that crashed the website of Lotte Duty Free are reportedly seeking to expand their attacks to more Korean public and private websites. Around 30 Korean public and company websites have so far been hacked by Chinese hackers, according to local news reports. These included relevant sites for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics and the 2017 WTF World Taekwondo Championships webpage, alongside homepages of private firms such as English-lang

Industry March 9, 2017

Korean tech and retail giants are on high alert over the changing political climate in their biggest export markets, the US and China.With the US moving to a protectionist stance in its international trade and China seemingly choosing to retaliate through trade against Seoul’s decision to deploy a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, Korea’s key exporters, including Samsung, LG and Lotte, are bearing the brunt of the political pressure. The US, which is Samsung and LG’s largest handset and ho

Industry March 8, 2017

The Korean telecommunications firm SK Broadband’ chief executive said Tuesday it is gearing up for the global launch of its mobile media platform Oksusu. Oksusu, launched in January of last year, is a mobile media service the currently offers a total of 170,000 movies, TV dramas and videos-on-demand created by 115 channels. It is the largest over-the-top platform in Korea with 10 million subscribers, followed by Pooq -- jointly set up by KBS, SBS and MBC -- with 1.3 million subscribers and CJ E&

Industry March 7, 2017

The world’s largest memory chip maker Samsung Electronics is expected to make the biggest investment in the global semiconductor market this year, a market research firm said on Tuesday. According to the US research firm IC Insights, Samsung Electronics’ capital expenditure on semiconductors this year is expected to be 14.5 trillion won ($12.5 billion), 11 percent higher than last year’s investment. The Korean tech giant is slated to complete the world’s largest chip complex in Pyeongtaek, with

Technology March 7, 2017

Samsung Electronics’ upcoming smartphone Galaxy S8 received a favorable response from its global partners after the company unveiled it to them during the Mobile World Congress last week, according to local news reports. During the four days from Feb. 27, the Korean tech giant reportedly disclosed its prototype Galaxy S8 to its partners including telecom operators around the world at Hotel Porta Fira, which is located near the Fira Gran Via where the Mobile World Congress took place. (Samsung El

Technology March 6, 2017

Market analysts said the initial sales of LG Electronics’ new flagship smartphone G6 look favorable and could bring a turnaround in LG’s mobile communications unit if they continue. LG G6, which was unveiled on Feb. 26 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, has sold more than 40,000 units in the four days since it went on sale in Korea, LG said Monday. G6 features a 18:9 ratio display that the company says can provide a more immersive experience when streaming videos and playing games.HI Investm

Industry March 6, 2017

Korean smartphone maker LG Electronics said Saturday it will update its two smartphones G4 and V10 with the latest operating system.“We plan to offer the upgrade of the operating system with Android 7.0 for the V10 in the second half of this year and for the G4 in the third quarter,” the company said in its statement.  V10 smartphones in a photo provided by LG Electronics Co. (Yonhap)The schedule applies to phones sold in South Korea. Consumers in the global market will be informed later.The G4,

Technology March 5, 2017

South Korea’s chipmaker SK Hynix may join hands with Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn to acquire a chip unit of Toshiba, industry watchers said. Toshiba could sell 100 percent of its chip unit to offset the massive loss at its US nuclear power plant construction business -- instead of the initial plan of selling a 19.9 percent stake, according to Nikkei Asian Review. This may reap a profit of more than $8.7 billion from the sale.This has made things trickier for SK Hynix, whose cash assets are far f

Industry March 5, 2017

BARCELONA -- The four day journey of this year’s biggest tech event, the World Mobile Congress, wrapped up on Thursday, attracting 110,000 visitors from around the world to see the latest technologies and solutions presented by 2,200 companies. This year’s MWC in Barcelona, Spain, showed how companies have moved forward from a year ago, and gave a clearer shape to 5G-enabled devices. While the MWC in 2016 focused on the speed of 5G, this week’s event showcased how new services can be realized ba

Technology March 2, 2017

BARCELONA -- Shaking off their copycat reputation, Chinese tech firms are enjoying a growing presence at this week’s Mobile World Congress, previously dominated by Korean and Japanese companies.This year, five Chinese handset makers Huawei, Oppo, TCL, Lenovo and ZTE joined the exhibition at Hall 3, the main MWC area where Samsung, LG and Nokia are also located. The Chinese firms’ rapid advancement was prominent even before the tech congress kicked off Monday. When Huawei launched its new smartph

Technology March 1, 2017

BARCELONA -- Artificial intelligence that made headlines last year with Google’s AlphaGo is again in the spotlight at Mobile World Congress by being integrated into daily routines through handsets, robots and cars. Tech firms showcased their latest gadgets at the MWC, which kicked off with the keynote speaker SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son saying, “Artificial intelligence will be smarter than the human brain within 30 years.”LG Electronics moved into the limelight at this year’s te

Technology March 1, 2017