The Korea Times

KKPC vows to overtake Lanxess

By Kim Yoo-chul Korea Kumho Petrochemcial (KKPC), the biggest producer of synthetic rubber in Asia, said it will invest more in the business. It aims to eventually overtake market leaders like Lanxess of Germany and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) in the quickly-growing sector. The company plans to raise the annual production of its advanced solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) to 184,000 tons by the end of 2014 from this year’s estimated 24,000 tons. That would enable the company to enter the global top 10 in production. The rubber is used broadly in shoes, tires and machinery and also next-generation products like high-efficiency tires. ``KKPC had planned to boost S-SBR’s annual capacity to 180,000 tons by the end of 2015, however, we’ve changed our schedule as bigger rivals including Lanxess and Sinope are spending more on advanced synthetic rubbers,’’ said KKPC spokesman Chang Yun-seok. Chang said the updated investment plan comes after the so-called ``tire labeling’’ for passenger cars and light trucks will take effect from November this ye

Oct 14, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung plans second handset plant in Vietnam

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics plans to build a second handset plant in Vietnam as it looks to boost its manufacturing capacity amid a global smartphone boom and an intensifying rivalry with Apple. The company confirmed Sunday it is in final talks with the Vietnamese government over the establishment of the $700 million factory. ``Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) is considering the northern Vietnamese city of Thai Nguyen, which currently depends on agriculture, as the location for the second plant. Thai Nguyen’s location provides great accessibility to Vietnam’s major cities,’’ said a Samsung official. Thai Nguyen is some 70 kilometers from the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and the construction of a set of highways linking Hanoi to regional cities is expected to be completed around 2015. Samsung has been operating a handset plant at the Yen Phong Industrial Zone in Bac Ninh. Since 2009, it has been leading Samsung’s overseas handset plants in terms of production, pumping out 150 million per year, which accounts for one-fourth of the company’s annual output. `

Oct 14, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Moving from love-hate to hate-hate

Apple gets serious about reducing Samsung reliance on smartphone chips By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics and Apple have been technology’s oddest bedfellows: bitter foes in finished products but indispensible as friends in parts like chips and screens. But with Apple moving quickly to reduce its reliance on Samsung’s semiconductor capability amid an intensifying intellectual property dispute between the companies in smartphones and tablets, the relationship is now about to become one-dimensional. According to industry sources, Apple has not collaborated with Samsung in the process to develop its A6 microprocessor used in its latest iPhone 5. Samsung has handled the manufacturing of the processors used in previous iPhones and believed to have contributed in their design to some degree. Apple is still relying on the Korean firm to manufacture its chips but has made it clear it will no longer use its rival’s technology, according to a senior Samsung official. ``Samsung’s agreement with Apple is limited to manufacturing the A6 processors. Apple did all the design and

Oct 14, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung plans second handset plant in Vietnam

Tech & Science

Samsung not to roll out MS phone here

By Kim Yoo-chul, Cho Mu-hyun Samsung Electronics has decided not to introduce Ativ S smartphones using Microsoft’s (MS) Windows Mobile as its main operating platform in Korea, this year, because the firm was negative about the market outlook for devices using Windows software, here, according to company officials, Friday. But they said that the world’s top smartphone manufacturer will make MS platform-based phones available in Europe, believing that the phones will gain popularity in the region as people there are familiar with such phones thanks to Nokia’s popularity. “Samsung decided not to roll out Ativ S smartphone in Korea this year. But it will launch promotional campaigns for the Ativ S for consumers in Europe,” said an official from the company. During a brief meeting with local reporters at Samsung’s main office in downtown Seoul, Thursday, its mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun said; “We will release the Ativ tablet this month (in Europe) and also the Ativ S smartphone will be available either late this month or early next month in some countries.” The Ativ S is S

Oct 12, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Google legal executive meets Samsung CEOs

By Kim Yoo-chul Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond has met with top executives of Samsung to discuss the Samsung-Apple litigation saga, according to Samsung officials. ``Drummond visited Samsung’s main office in Seoul on Wednesday for a strategic meeting with Samsung Strategy Office Head Choi Gee-sung and Samsung’s mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun. The two companies discussed Apple’s contention,’’ said a Samsung official, asking not to be named Drummond visited Seoul Tuesday to participate in the Korean firm’s series of international conferences dubbed “Big Tent.” The official said the one-hour meeting took place behind closed doors. But officials say it’s very rare for a top Google legal officer to hold a ``working-level’’ discussion with a partner firm over sensitive issues. ``As far as I know, the two companies specifically talked about Apple as the meeting was practical not symbolic,’’ said the official. Lois Kim, head of communications for Google Korea, declined to confirm this. The high-profile meeting was the second in a month after Google Executive Cha

Oct 11, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

LS Cable completes first factory in US

By Kim Yoo-chul LS Cable & System (LS Cable) said Wednesday its affiliate in the United States has completed the company’s first North American power cable plant. This is the first time in the industry that an Asian company has secured a manufacturing base in the United States. As of the end of last year, the United States produced and consumed the most electricity in the world, generating 1,072 gigawatts. ``This is a memorable moment in LS Cable’s 50-year history,’’ company Chairman Koo Cha-yol was quoted as saying in a press release. LS Cable and affiliate Superior Essex started building the plant in May last year. Over the last 17 months, the two invested $64 million (some 70 billion won) in the project, according to the statement. The 76,200-square-meter facility includes a 38-meter tower to produce medium voltage cables and additional equipment to cover a range of power applications. The initial launch of Superior Essex Energy’s cable portfolio in February 2012 included low 300- and 600-volt instrumentation cables for control systems, audio, intercoms, ener

Oct 10, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

LG back on track

Chairman Koo aims to foster creative DNA By Kim Yoo-chul LG Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates, has cemented a reputation for playing it safe rather than taking risks. But with its positions in major markets such as consumer electronics and mobile phones becoming precarious, Chairman Koo Bon-moo is showing unprecedented boldness in terms of business strategies. It’s obviously impossible to sell high-risk, high-reward moves in these economic times without optimism. This is exactly what Koo tried to inject across LG’s many subsidiaries, providing each business unit with further autonomy to experiment and explore new opportunities. This shows that Koo has become an entirely different executive than when he first took the helm of Lucky-Goldstar, LG’s predecessor, in 1995. The younger Koo was a conservative strategist who demanded executives develop astute knowledge about risks and measured every business decision carefully. Ironically, the sluggish world economies in recent years seem to have inspired Koo to be more of an adventurous gun-slinger ty

Oct 10, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Guarded optimism

Samsung sees mild economic recovery By Kim Yoo-chul GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province ― Leaders of Korea’s major technology companies have expressed guarded optimism about the business outlook for the coming year, saying that a recovery in the IT industry will help the global economy bounce back. The upbeat outlook came at the Korea Electronics Show (KES) attended by leaders of major technology companies, including Yoon Boo-keun, the president of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics division. KES, which was held at the KINTEX Convention Center in Goyang, is the Korean version of the International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES) of the United States. Yoon expect a mild economic recovery next year and predicts that the global consumer electronics industry will rebound, helping Samsung continue its expansionary tracks in its key businesses. But he ruled out the possibility of a V-shaped recovery. ``The global consumer electronics industry, which is now on the road to recovery, would help revive the world economy because its growth could also help other industries to exp

Oct 9, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Kumho chairman's luxury vacation raises eyebrows

By Kim Yoo-chul, Cho Mu-hyun The chairman of the troubled Kumho-Asiana Group has faced allegations that he had used the company’s funds for a luxury vacation with his family. Chairman Park Sam-koo’s vacation again raises ethical questions about the chaebol owner family, who are little affected by troubles facing their conglomerates. According to industry sources, Sunday, the Kumho-Asiana chairman flew on Oct. 1 to the Mexican resort city of Los Cabos for a one-week vacation during the Chuseok holiday. Park was accompanied by his wife, daughter Park Se-jin, his son-in-law ― a lawyer from Korea’s top-rated law firm of Kim & Chang ― and two bodyguards. Sources claim that a CEO’s trip itself can be a non-issue but he claimed that he used his company’s money for a lavish trip, while his company has been in a severe belt-tightening mode. Park stayed in the top-rated resort hotel Stay at One & Only Palmilla. He spent only three hours on company affairs for meetings with officials at Asiana Airlines and Kumho Tire in the United States. The trip was revealed when all-

Oct 7, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung hits new milestone

Technology giant posts record operating profit of W8.1 tril. in Q3 By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics said Friday that it posted record operating profit of 8.1 trillion won ($7.3 billion) in the third quarter of this year on the back of robust smartphones sales. It is the fourth straight quarter of record operating profit. The preliminary estimate for the July-September period is a 90.6 percent rise from 4.3 trillion won a year earlier and a 20.5 percent gain from the previous quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing. It is the first time a Korean company has exceeded 8 trillion won in quarterly operating profit. In the filing to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the electronics giant also said it recorded record sales of 52 trillion won during the three-month period, up 26 percent from a year ago. ``For the first nine months of this year, Samsung has reaped 144.87 trillion won in revenue, while the combined operating profit reached 20.67 trillion won. It’s possible for Samsung to clinch 200 trillion won in revenue and 25 trillion won in operating profit for the entir

Oct 5, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Kim Yoo-chul

Read more

KKPC vows to overtake Lanxess

Samsung plans second handset plant in Vietnam

Moving from love-hate to hate-hate

Samsung not to roll out MS phone here

Google legal executive meets Samsung CEOs

LS Cable completes first factory in US

LG back on track

Guarded optimism

Kumho chairman's luxury vacation raises eyebrows

Samsung hits new milestone

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