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New iPad to strengthen Korean parts suppliers

Apple to buy Samsung parts worth $9 billion By Kim Yoo-chul The release of the new iPad looks good for all Apple’s Korean parts suppliers amid signs of improvement in demand for electronic devices. ``The new iPad is positive for investor sentiment and the stocks of its major Korean partners. It’s no surprise that the Koreans are improving their core parts considering the steadily increasing demand for Apple tablets,’’ said one executive from one of Apple’s partners in Korea. According to the publicized document by Apple, Samsung Electronics is included among its supply-chain management (SCM) structure, LG Display, LG Chem, LG Innotek, SK-Hynix Samsung Electro-Mechanics are other Korean suppliers. Samsung is expected to be both victim and beneficiary of the new iPad that will be pitted against its Galaxy Tab. ``We are still in the process of separating component and finished-goods units to effectively handle our overseas customers, among whom Apple is the VIP,’’ said a Samsung executive, requesting anonymity. Record buying from Apple ``In order to respond

Mar 6, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung giving up LCD TVs for LEDs

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics is significantly reducing the output of conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions in an attempt to shift its focus to more profitable sets using light-emitting diodes (LED) as the main backlight. LED TVs are better in power consumption, picture quality and life span. ``We are significantly cutting the output of LCD TVs using the bulky cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) as the main backlight,’’ said Samsung spokesman Song Cheol-gyu. While CCFL has dominated the market for many years, it is now considered old technology. More and more tech-savvy consumers are opting for LED TVs, Song said. ``But Samsung doesn’t have any immediate plans to completely halt the production of CCFL-powered LCD TVs in Korea and other countries as consumers in some countries still want them,’’ Song added. The company, the world’s biggest manufacturer of flat-screen TVs, says it plans to sell at least 50 million, including LED-backlit and CCFL-powered LCD sets as well as plasma televisions, this year. IHS iSuppli, a U.S.-based market resea

Mar 6, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LG looks to Hollywood for 3D content

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Electronics, one of the world’s leading makers of consumer electronics products, is looking to partner with several Hollywood studios in an attempt to boost content for its three-dimensional (3D) televisions. LG, which trails only Samsung Electronics in the manufacture of flat-screen televisions, is talking with Paramount, Fox, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers to use their stereoscopic content, company officials said. ``We’ve seen substantial progresses for such business talks with the six Hollywood studios. An official announcement will be made soon,’’ said a high-ranking LG executive, who is close to the negotiations. LG spokesman Yoon Won-il declined to confirm the talks. Along with ``smart’’ televisions with Internet connectivity, 3D television has been touted to replace conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) television as the standard for the future. To improve its sales of 3D televisions, LG has been looking to add wealth to its pool of content. Inking partnerships with Hollywood studios will also help

Mar 5, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung to restructure Japanese operations

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Group, the nation’s leading conglomerate, is changing the way it conducts business in Japan to substantially boost performance. The Seoul-based group said Sunday that its subsidiaries in Japan will now operate independently from each other. Previously all 18 Samsung affiliates existed under the same umbrella of Samsung Japan. Japan has been one of the few countries where Samsung has failed to stand out as consumers there respond bitterly to Korean electronics companies. There is strong competition with Japanese firms like Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and Sanyo. Plus, Japan’s major distribution channels are suspected of being reluctant to retail items manufactured by Samsung Electronics, the world’s top producer of flat-panel displays and memory chips. The head of Samsung Electronics Consumer Electronics Division Yoon Boo-keun recently told The Korea Times that Japan is a very difficult market to penetrate and Samsung Electronics will review how to actively increase the sale of its televisions from thorough market reviews. ``Samsung will disb

Mar 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

OCI strikes deal with Nasdaq-listed company

By Kim Yoo-chul OCI, the world’s second-biggest maker of polysilicon widely used in solar panels, hopes to deal with the prolonged downturn in the global solar energy market by focusing on the light-emitting diode (LED) industry. The Seoul-based outfit said Sunday that it had signed a deal with Nasdaq-listed GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) to bolster its endeavors in the market for sapphire ingots, a critical material in the manufacture of LED chips. Under the agreement, OCI plans to use equipment bought by GTAT to produce value-added sapphire ingots through cutting-edge heat exchange method (HEM) technology. ``With technological help from GTAT, OCI has already started exporting various sapphire ingots sized from 2-, 4-, to 6-inches to our customers in Taiwan, China and Japan,’’ OCI’s public relations office head Park Sang-bae said. Park said OCI is heavily investing in strengthening its global presence with the hope that the business for sapphire ingots will help it diversify its business portfolios. ``By 2015, OCI aims to take up a 20 percent global market share

Mar 4, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Korean firms nervous over OLED race

Sony confirms 3D panel deal with LG By Kim Yoo-chul Korea is being pressured to cement its current leadership in the new wave of display technology amid the rapid rise of Japan and China in futuristic screens, Korea’s biggest display lobby group said Wednesday. Major display makers are moving toward thinner and brighter organic-light emitting diode (OLED) displays to find new growth engines amid the saturation of demand for conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) products. Thanks to its myriad of merits, OLED represents the future, representing a huge growth opportunity in coming years with Samsung dominating the sector. ``Should Korea face stiffer competition with Japanese and Chinese companies in the OLED race, the former will face a great challenge,’’ said Cho Soo-in, the head of the Korea Display Industry Association (KDIA). In a press conference in downtown Seoul, Cho, who is also chief executive of Samsung Mobile Display, said the global demand for LCDs is shrinking with the display sector seeing a paradigm change in flat screens. ``People are saying Ja

Feb 29, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Google urged to stop user data mining

By Kim Yoo-chul An Internet rights group Tuesday urged Google to drop its plan to data mine user information. In an urgent statement, the Korean Council on the Protection of Personal Information (KCPPI) said that Google’s scheme violates privacy and it should not be implemented on March 1 as scheduled. ``The Google plan is totally against Internet privacy,’’ a spokesman said. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the nation’s converged telecom regulator, said it was mulling the possibility of taking legal action against Google as its new system will threaten Internet privacy. Google plans to start consolidating information across its many products, meaning that any information a user enters in one product, for example, YouTube, can be combined with information from other Google services including search, Gmail or Google’s new Google+ social networking site. The new policy will allow it to collect and store information about users including search queries, logs of calls and locations. ``The policy will make Google get more bargaining power to control the

Feb 28, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Companies

Nanum to help venturists

By Kim Yoo-chul The Asan Nanum Foundation (ANF), a charity body run by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and its key affiliates, said Tuesday it has launched a fund with 100 billion won or $89 million aimed at creating a favorable business environment for younger businessmen. HHI contributed 57 billion won, followed by Hyundai Mipo and Hyundai Samho, Hyundai Oil Bank, each providing with 9 million won, ANF said in a statement. KCC donated 5 billion won, while Hyundai Corp., Hi Investment and Korea Flange all gave 3 billion. Hyundai Department has provided 2 billion won. ``We have yet to decide on the management of the charity program. But the one clear point is ANF will work closely with domestic venture capital to effectively run the charity fund,’’ said Han Jeong-hwa, a senior executive for ANF, in a press conference held at Seoul’s Soongsil University. The Nanum foundation was launched last year with an initial sum of 500 billion won. Since its foundation, ANF is providing an increased number of programs to help young adults. ANF has provided opportunities for 500

Feb 28, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

SK-Hynix to boost Qualcomm link

By Kim Yoo-chul Hynix Semiconductor, under its new name SK-Hynix, plans to renew its business relationship with U.S. chip giant Qualcomm, one of the most influential companies in mobile communications technology. The firm hopes that a strengthened partnership with Qualcomm will allow it to better exploit increased chip demand created by the growth of mobile Internet devices. Qualcomm officials will visit Seoul next month to meet senior executives of SK Telecom, the country’s biggest mobile-phone operator and parent company of SK-Hynix, to discuss related issues, a senior SK Telecom executive said Tuesday. One scenario is that Hynix will supply mobile DRAM chips to Qualcomm to manufacture one-chip solutions built around its applications processors for mobile devices. Qualcomm doesn’t have chip manufacturing lines and relies on outsourcing to such as SK-Hynix’s archrival, Samsung Electronics. ``Senior Qualcomm executives are preparing to meet with officials at SK Telecom and SK-Hynix and the discussions involve plans to boost the latter’s capability in non-memory

Feb 28, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung mum on Apple ahead of critical rulings

By Kim Yoo-chul It seems that Samsung Electronics is beginning to mince its words about its high-profile intellectual property fight with Apple ahead of crucial rulings in Germany. It was just months ago that the Korean technology giant had expressed bullishness in its legal battle with Apple, which doubles as its friend in parts but foe in finished products, but a series of setbacks against the California-based juggernaut appear to have injected humility. ``I can’t talk about anything related to Apple. I will say for sure that Samsung has prepared a very sophisticated strategy to handle the litigation issues,’’ Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung told reporters Tuesday.

Feb 28, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul
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