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LG's mobile biz to turn around

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Electronics fell behind in the smartphone era but seems to have finally rebounded. The latest data clearly shows that the flagship firm of LG Group is catching up fast. Despite earlier negative forecasts amid sluggish handset sales, its operating profit for the April-June period increased by 120.5 percent to 349 billion won ($302.95 million) from a year ago. Its revenue declined by 10.6 percent year-on-year but net profits increased by 46 percent to 159 billion won ($138 million). The better-than-expected outcome is mainly attributed to a robust performance in television and home appliance sales. Earnings from the home appliance division rose 181.6 percent to record 165 billion won ($143.23 million) during the period. The company, led by Chief Executive Koo Bon-joon, expects an even better performance in the third quarter, powered by a recovery in its handset business. LG Electronics Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jung Do-hyun said its handset business will swing into the black in the second half helped by the rising demand for LG’s advanced Optimus

Jul 26, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

DELL reinvents business model

Firm aims to beat IBM, HP in Korea By Kim Yoo-chul DELL has been one of the major players in the domestic personal computer (PC) market. Despite numerous challenges, the U.S. giant has managed to stay the course. However, the company has long been lagging behind its rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the Korean market. Seemingly, DELL Korea CEO Peter Marrs envisions a different picture. He may aim to break such industrial hierarchy by strengthening its foothold in Korea because he believes that Korea has great growth potential. He aims to more than double its sales here to 1 trillion won by 2015 by reinventing the firm’s business model with a focus on its enterprise solutions-related business. DELL is the world’s fourth-biggest PC manufacturer and has been involved in the business for the past 28 years. But it has enhanced a business for corporations _ a very lucrative market that’s worth more than $4 trillion, globally. ``Not only in the global market, but also in Korea enterprise market, positive reviews on DELL’s product are dominant and it was reflected in

Jul 24, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

OCI strikes solar energy deal in US

By Kim Yoo-chul OCI, Korea’s biggest maker of polysilicon, has inked an agreement with CPS Energy of the United States for the construction of a massive 400-megawatt solar energy facility, the company said. The announcement comes as OCI suffers decreasing profit and being targeted by the Chinese government over suspicious polysilicon dumping. On Tuesday, the Korean company said that its affiliate in the United States ― OCI Solar Power ― will provide solar electricity to CPS over the next 25 years. OCI will establish its U.S. head office in San Antonio of Texas to provide electricity for some 70,000 households, or 10 percent of the U.S. firm’s customers. It will generate $1 billion for construction investment. Supplier Nexelon America will also establish a $100 million manufacturing operation to build solar panels there, said an OCI spokesman Park Sang-bae. ``OCI, Nexelon and other suppliers involved in the solar project are expected to create 800 jobs in San Antonio with a combined annual payroll of $40 million,’’ Park said. OCI Solar Power aims to produce 50-meg

Jul 24, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LG set to enter US computer market

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Electronics is looking to break into the U.S. computer market in October through its partnership with Microsoft as part of efforts to strengthen its foothold in the world’s largest electronics market, according to LG officials Friday. The Korean electronics giant said it plans to release stylish laptops in the U.S. that run on Windows 8 on October 26. ``LG will enter the American computer market with help from MS. Through the collaboration, LG expects its computer business to grow effectively,’’ said an LG source familiar with the matter. The official added LG senior executives are currently working on detailed strategies to make inroads into one of the biggest computer markets in the world. LG executives handling the computer business recently visited top U.S. retail channels including Best Buy to find ways of expanding there, another company source said in a telephone interview. ``We are not interested in desktop computers because demand for the devices is too low. LG push its all-in-one PCs and laptop businesses in the United States,’’ the of

Jul 23, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LG to establish joint OLED lab

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Display is partnering the nation’s top university to develop next-generation displays such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and even bendable screens. The Korean company, competing against its biggest rival Samsung Display in the race for future displays, said in a statement that it has decided to establish the LGD-Seoul National University Cooperation Center. Under the alliance, senior LG technicians, Seoul National University (SNU) professors and undergraduate students will conduct various projects which are mostly related to developing materials and technologies for use in the displays, LG Display spokesman Jason Kim said Friday, adding these projects will be funded by his firm. Since last year, the company has been running the LGenius Program, aimed at helping graduate and doctoral students financially with technology-enriched theses. The LG spokesman said the firm has also worked with the nation’s top technology school KAIST in display-related projects and it plans to expand its support and scholarship programs with other colleges. To

Jul 20, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

KT to keep WiBro biz

By Kim Yoo-chul KT, the nation’s biggest fixed-line operator, said Friday it won’t walk away from the WiBro business, and that it has actually been increasing investment in the network. ``KT has no plans to withdraw from the WiBro business. As a strategy to activate the sector and improve the quality of the services, KT is still spending,’’ the company said in a statement, late Friday. The firm said it will add several new cities to expand its WiBro coverage. The decision comes a few days after and in contrast to KT President Pyo Hyun-myung’s statement stressing that WiBro is rapidly losing luster in the global market. During a meeting with local reporters, Pyo said KT should introduce time-division long-term evolution (TD-LTE) wireless technology to expand the company’s eco-system. TD-LTE was originally developed in China but it has been gaining momentum because top-tier telecom companies such as SoftBank of Japan are using it. Pyo’s remarks upset Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairman Lee Kye-cheol, who said the only thing KT should do is to return its WiB

Jul 20, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LG Chem bounces back on recovery in batteries

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Chem reported better-than-expected profit for the second quarter mostly powered by solid demand for batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) and other computing devices such as notebooks. Operating profit for the April-June period increased by 9.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to reach 500 billion won, while sales rose 4.2 percent to 5.99 trillion won from the previous quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing. But net income slightly decreased by 1.8 percent to 374 billion won as demand in China waned for materials to make plastic and synthetic rubber, said a LG Chem spokesman. Korea’s biggest chemical maker’s battery plant in Michigan, the United States, has returned to full normalization and new EVs from Renault helped strengthen the firm’s profit. Top global carmakers are using LG-manufactured batteries in their eco-friendly EVs. By division, its battery unit was the winner. Led by former LG Display CEO Kwon Young-soo, it saw a 127.4 percent jump in operating profit to 30.7 billion won from the previous quarter, while sales spiked 20.4 perce

Jul 18, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

SK in talks with Vodafone for LTE

By Kim Yoo-chul SK Telecom, the nation's top mobile carrier, said Tuesday that it is in talks with U.K firm Vodafone to further develop its in-house advanced telecommunications technology. The firm said the move is part of efforts to strengthen alliances to enable a global presence. The so-called Smart Push technology is the primary target for the United Kingdom-based telecom group. ``Collaboration with Vodafone will be strengthened as it has keen interest in using the SK technology amid the migration into data-intensive long-term evolution (LTE),’’ said an SK executive, Tuesday. In February, senior Vodafone executives, who manage the corporate network-related strategies, met with SK Telecom officials in Seoul and tentatively agreed to forge a close tie-up in LTE services. The Smart Push tech, which is one of SK Telecom’s ``PETA’’-dubbed solutions, enables the smooth usage of social networking services or messengers and also facilitates the large amount of data traffic on Web-connected smartphones and tablets. Vodafone isn’t the only firm that wants to boost a strategi

Jul 17, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung buys British chip unit for $300 mil.

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips, said Tuesday it reached an agreement to buy the mobile product division of British semiconductor designer Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) for $300 million. Samsung will separately invest $34 million in CSR, which is advanced in technology for chips used in mobile Internet devices like smartphones and touch-screen tablets. Samsung boasts dual strength in parts and finished products, also being the world’s second-largest liquid crystal display (LCD) maker and the largest provider of flat-screen television and mobile phones. The company is currently locked in a bitter rivalry with Apple in smartphones and tablets, with lawsuits flying left and right between them. ``The deal provides us full access to CSR’s intellectual properties related to mobile devices as well as the license for other technologies and the creative input of 310 software developers the firm has employed. The acquired division will be absorbed within Samsung’s Systems LSI division,’’ said Samsung spokesman Ken Noh. CS

Jul 17, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung, LG in legal tussle

12 ex-officials charged with technology theft By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Display vowed Monday to continue its legal fight with LG Display after the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office charged 11 former senior and low-ranking technicians over involvement in the leak of cutting-edge OLED technology to LG. ``This is intolerable. All key OLED technologies were leaked to LG. This is a serious crime. Samsung Display is seeking compensation from LG and we will continue civil lawsuits against LG Display,’’ said Shim Jae-boo, chief communications officer at Samsung Display in a briefing at the company’s main office.

Jul 16, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
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