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Samsung heirs denied promotion

By Kim Yoo-chul Chaebol leader Lee Kun-hee’s children will remain in their current roles for now. Lee, chairman of the flagship Samsung Electronics, told reporters Thursday, there will be “no promotions,” when asked of his only son Jae-yong, who is currently president, and his sister Seo-hyun, executive vice president at Cheil Industries. The senior Lee made the remarks on his way to attend the annual award ceremony for outstanding employees at the company’s headquarters in southern Seoul. Speculation had been rife that the junior Lee would take on the higher role of Samsung Electronics vice chairman. Meanwhile he has been shaping Samsung’s parts-supply deal with Apple for the next few years in direct meetings with Apple chief executive Tim Cook. The world’s biggest maker of chips, flat screens, televisions and smartphones, the Samsung chaebol is planning to invest more in facility investments in the year ahead. “Samsung is paying more attention to monitoring the economic situation in developed markets such as Europe. At the same time Samsung will invest more

Dec 1, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LANXESS eyes big investment in Korea

By Kim Yoo-chul LANXESS is planning to boost its direct investment through joint ventures with blue-chip Korean companies, the German company’s chairman said. As one of the world’s biggest synthetic rubber firms, LANXESS provides Nd-PBR and SSBR rubber to Korea’s leading tire manufacturers such as Hankook Tire. Its products are integral to “green tires,’’ which are more fuel efficient, safer and more durable than standard tires with less environmental concerns. ``LANXESS does have ambitious investment programs. We are planning to invest $1.4 billion in our major facilities in Asia and we are considering more projects also with South Korean firms,’’ said Axel C. Heitmann, chairman of the board of management at LANXESS, in a recent interview with The Korea Times. He said the investment amount will be large and stressed more Korean blue-chip firms will be awarded by the upbeat investment program. Heitmann said LANXESS will expand its business in South Korea by more than double digits in terms of total revenue next year from this one. LANXESS is estimated to reap s

Dec 1, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung wins patent battle with Apple in Australia

By Kim Yoo-chul The Federal Court of Australia in Sydney ruled against a request in a lawsuit filed by Apple to ban the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets, Wednesday. The decision will be effective from 4 p.m. Dec. 2. Samsung welcomed the decision. “We respect the ruling from Sydney. Samsung will do its best in our fight against Apple,” said Kevin Jeong, a senior spokesman for the company. This is a meaningful victory for Samsung Electronics as it lost two similar cases in Germany and the Netherlands. Attention is being shifted to whether the latest decision will have an impact on a court ruling in France. On Dec. 8, a court in Paris will rule on Samsung’s request for a complete sales ban on the Apple iPhone 4S, there. Samsung is fighting Apple over patents in some 30 cases in nine different countries. Chief executive Choi Gee-sung said Samsung is set to spend $200 million in its legal battle with Apple throughout next year. Samsung Electronics Australia has begun getting Tabs from its parent firm and setting up logistics and sales channels for the Tabs ah

Nov 30, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung keeps WiBro services

By Kim Yoo-chul Despite falling demand Samsung Electronics is planning to maintain its code division multiple access (CDMA) WiBro services, a Korean version of mobile WiMAX. Samsung’s mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun has denied market speculation that his firm will completely drop its investment for WiBro. ``Samsung will continue in the WiBro business. Our stance is clear ― if there’s demand, then we will provide,’’ said Shin, adding Samsung will continue to release handsets that only support WiBro network services. Samsung has been selling the WiBro-equipped Evo 4G+1 smartphone produced by Taiwan’s HTC. This plan has come despite Samsung’s biggest overseas WiBro business partner Sprint Nextel, a U.S.-based mobile operator, has reportedly discontinued its WiBro business to shift to 4G long-term evolution (LTE) network services. The Samsung-Sprint partnership has so far yielded Nexus S 4G and Epic 4G smartphones, both of which support WiBro but their sales have not been impressive. ``There is no future in WiBro. We have no reason to increase our spending on WiBro-rel

Nov 30, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LG puts off big management shakeup

Can current team bring about changes to set electronics giant back on track? By Kim Yoo-chul Few heads rolled. There were some conspicuous promotions and fewer pink slips. The big picture from LG Electronics’ reshuffle, announced Wednesday, lacked surprises expected of a firm in trouble but carried a message of reassurance from CEO Koo Bon-joon. Still, the remaining question is whether LG can recover from its current doldrums. LG Electronics’ major word for this year’s year-end management shake-up was ``stability,’’ as chief executive Koo believes

Nov 30, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Companies

Asan Foundation contributes to job drive

By Kim Yoo-chul The Asan Foundation, run by the Hyundai Group, opened a new facility Tuesday that will serve as the headquarters for the organization’s efforts to help college graduates find jobs or start businesses. The 10-story building, called the Chung Ju-yung Business Center after the late-Hyundai founder, will be located on the campus of Soongsil University in Seoul. “This is a rare level of investment by a private firm. We expect to run various programs for young jobseekers to connect them with quality jobs or encourage them in entrepreneurship,” said an Asan official. With heightened uncertainty surrounding the world economy threatening Korea’s fragile recovery, the country’s job market remains bleak, particularly for graduates. The situation isn’t expected to get any better in the foreseeable future. The official said the group’s job center will play an integral part in its upcoming corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The center plans to provide customized programs for graduates and businesses in specific industrial centers along with career

Nov 29, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Uplus CEO to shake things up with LTE

Carrier in league with Google, targets Apple partnership By Kim Yoo-chul LG Uplus chief executive Lee Sang-chul is recently upbeat and smiling as the company is taking an initial lead in the nation’s burgeoning 4G LTE smartphone market. Lee, who is also one of the top lieutenants with LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo with LG Display chief executive Kwon Young-soo, as well, is widely seen to continue his top job next year as LG Uplus has grabbed its ``second chance’’ to improve corporate bottom line. LTE is short for Long Term Evolution. Mobile carriers in Korea that include the market leader SK Telecom and runner-up KT are heavily betting on smartphones supporting LTE technology as strategies to find new earnings drivers amid full saturation in the domestic wireless industry. The bureaucrat-turned-businessman Lee is also the ``hidden factor’’ for Uplus to win a 2100 megahertz spectrum auction, sending it to offer better 4G offerings and to maximize ARPUs, which are typically falling in South Korea. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), Korea’s top regulator, had preclud

Nov 28, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LG confident the worst is over

Company poised to challenge Samsung, Apple smartphones By Kim Yoo-chul For LG Electronics the worst appears to be over, with the company improving its bottom line and productivity from an impressive sales increase in smartphones. A surge in consumers buying LG-branded TVs and smartphones has put the LG Group’s electronics affiliate on track to report better earnings. With better products being released this year and a strengthening tie-up with strategically-important overseas clients, LG officials said a turnaround is in sight. LG’s handset division has been in the red for the past six quarters and has been a major roadblock in earnings, while LG Electronics, which is faring relatively better than its Japanese rivals, is however facing stiffer competition amid slowing global demand. But one noticeable change is that executives are showing signs of confidence for a steady improvement in smartphone revenue and global marketing chief Kang Shin-ik is the most recent high-profile figure to have expressed growing optimism. ``LG smartphones are now effectively competi

Nov 28, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung-Qualcomm ties tighter

By Kim Yoo-chul The alliance between Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm is strengthening after former opted to use the latter’s chips in its latest Android-powered Galaxy device ― the Galaxy Note. On Monday, Samsung released the Note domestically. The device has a larger screen than a smartphone but smaller than a tablet. Mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun told reporters that it has high hopes for the Note in the year-end shopping season, adding it will pave the way for the company to solidify its lead in the global consumer electronics market. One interesting point is that the Note uses Qualcomm’s 1.5-megahertz dual-core mobile application processors (APs) rather than the in-house ``Exynos’’ system-on-chip (SoC) processor. Samsung, the world’s biggest memory chipmaker, has been spending heavily on mobile APs. Unlike volatile memory chips, these are profitable as they are used to control entire computing systems, while the former are only used to read and write data. Samsung is supplying its mobile APs produced at its plant in Austin, Texas, for Apple’s iPhones. It is invest

Nov 28, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

POSCO aims to save costs

By Kim Yoo-chul POSCO has shifted into emergency management mode to deal with a series of challenges to its bottom line and business prospects. POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang is leading the way, switching on risk management programs, including a group-wide effort to cut costs and raise efficiency. ``In a meeting with the presidents of POSCO’s main affiliates and senior executives, Chairman Chung told them to step up on risk management,’’ said a company spokesman, Friday. ``There are some concerns over management risk. A company should operate on a risk management footing on a daily basis,’’ Chung was quoted as saying in a statement by POSCO. He said that Chung is getting closely involved and playing a more active role. ``It’s not cutting costs just for the sake of costing costs. Our primary goal is enhance efficiency to save costs, too,’’ he said. Chung’s call for emergency footing is unusual because the chairman is known for his aplomb but comes after the world’s third-biggest steel producer’s profits were less lucrative than expected. Moody’s credit rati

Nov 25, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul
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