The Korea Times

Ex-Hynix chief takes over Siemens Korea

By Kim Yoo-chul Kim Jong-kap, the former head of Hynix Semiconductor, has been named as new CEO and chairman of Siemens’ Korean affiliate. This is the first time that the German firm has chosen a Korean to lead the affiliate. The 59-year-old CEO will lead Siemens Korea from June 1. “Siemens believes that the new CEO will help us build momentum for localization,” said Park Jin, a PR consultant for Siemens Korea, Thursday. The company sees renewable energy and healthcare as its key earnings sources. It made 1.7 trillion won in sales last year with a net profit of 69 billion won, Park said. In 2009, Siemens reaped 2.1 trillion won as its annual revenue, while the net profit was 54 billion won. “I decided to move because I want to be more active. Siemens will create more jobs as a healthy partner and help contribute to the local economy,” Kim told The Korea Times. “Siemens will become a company that realizes localization in a real sense.” Kim helped the Icheon, Gyeonggi Province-based chipmaker boost its chip-making technology far ahead of its bigger Taiwanese a

May 27, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

KT to diversify portfolio

By Kim Yoo-chul KT, the nation’s leading fixed-line operator and No. 2 mobile carrier, is opening a new chapter in its corporate history under the helm of its CEO Lee Suk-chae. The new approach is about KT globalizing its existing businesses and going into non-telecom areas, while moving ahead in technology. ``KT is having some success through investing in telecom networks, but there’s no guarantee that it could maintain sustainability just with strengthening traditional businesses,’’ said Lee during a press conference marking the second anniversary of the merger of KT and its mobile unit KTF at its headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. Lee wanted sales from its non-telecom and global businesses that include finance and global telecommunication as well as cloud-based computing to grow about 60 percent from 2010 by 2015. Lee said total corporate revenue will double to 40 trillion won by 2015 from some 20 trillion won last year. ``We’ve seen many changes over the last few years. Amid the converged era in the telecom industry, KT should actively respond to the new trend,’

May 26, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

OCI to be listed on Singapore bourse

By Kim Yoo-chul OCI, the world’s second-biggest polysilicon manufacturer, Wednesday confirmed its plan to be listed on the Singapore stock exchange later this month. The plan comes after the Korean polysilicon giant has completed the sale of $700 million-equivalent global depositary receipts (GDR) to overseas investors such as those in the U.S., the U.K. and Hong Kong. Ten GDRs represent one ordinary share. ``Despite uncertainties in emerging markets, big overseas investors were flocking to the cash-raising campaign as they believe in OCI’s competitiveness in polysilicons and growth potential,’’ said Park Sang-bae, an OCI spokesman. The campaign is the biggest case of a South Korean firm since 2002 to raise cash through an overseas stock exchange. Park from OCI said the discount rate of 2.7 percent was ``unexpectedly favorable’’ in terms of conditions. The cash secured by the GDR issuance will be used to boost its production capacity in its local facilities and help its flexibility in responding to long-term investment. The current capacity of OCI’s polysilicons

May 25, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

What will Samsung do about Apple?

Tech giant may play its strong technology card ― LTE smartphones By Kim Yoo-chul What will be Samsung Electronics’ next move in its ever-fiercer competition for smartphone hegemony with Apple? This question would be made more relevant in the context of whether Samsung will later this year come up with a new Galaxy smartphone that will be based on the similar but upgraded 3G technologies or jump to 4G or long-term evolution (LTE). ``But the one clear thing is that Samsung hopes to become a genuine rival for Apple and the anticipated smartphone is part of its strategy to do so,’’ said a senior analyst at a Europe-based investment bank in Seoul. The iPhone 5 will be marketed later this year. It is said that Samsung plans to launch a smartphone that will have the data processing capacities of a regular PC. A more plausible scenario is the early adoption of LTE because Samsung has proven its track record of injecting more resources for a ``first-mover’’ advantage. Both SK Telecom and KT have confirmed their plans to release smartphones that support the next-generati

May 24, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

LSIS to invest $30 million for green solutions

By Kim Yoo-chul LS Industrial Systems (LSIS), an electric equipment firm, is planning to invest 32 billion won, or $30 million, to construct a three-story building to produce key parts used in electric vehicles (EVs). The investment is part of the company’s recent push to strengthen its energy-efficient projects from China to Korea. Under the investment plan, the production output of a so-called ``EV Relay’’ will be boosted to 4 million by the end of 2015 from the current 100,000, it said in a release, Monday. The new facility, which is on an area of 13,680 square meters, will be composed of a production line, laboratory and utility facilities, according to the release. ``Production will start within the first quarter of 2012,’’ its spokesman Kim Bong-kyu said, adding the EV Relay is regarded as a critical component for electric vehicles. ``The facility investment plan follows rising demand for EVs amid the government’s push for green-related initiatives,’’ said Kim of LSIS. Leading tech companies in Northeast Asia that include LSIS were injecting more resources

May 23, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Setting sail for lucrative shores

World-leading shipbuilders Hyundai, Samsung and Daewoo see brighter future By Kim Yoo-chul The conventional wisdom is that the shipbuilding industry is vital for the health of the economy because of its ripple effect ― the business boosts trade and other ancillary services in a big way. In the sense, Korean shipyards with global brand recognition seem to have played a major role in the country’s fast economic recovery over the past few years through and in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Korea, home to the world’s three biggest shipyards of Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), underpinned its bottom line based on the shipbuilders’ quantum leaps in high-end vessels. Included in examples are the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, super container ships and large-scale tankers. Korean shipyards swept over 60 percent of the global demand for LNG carriers and containers, according to market research firms. As for the lucrative offshore production units, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy

May 20, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Disgruntled HTC returns to SKT

Partnership with KT ends fruitless By Kim Yoo-chul HTC, the Taiwan-based smartphone vendor, has been struggling to establish a significant presence in Korea. It remains to be seen whether restoring SK Telecom as its main partner, the same carrier it had ditched for KT, will provide a breakthrough. The company will provide its latest handset, Sensation, to SK, the country’s largest wireless carrier, as it looks to rebuild its partnership. SK Telecom has been concentrating more on getting handsets from Apple and Samsung Electronics. HTC had provided its flagship smartphone, Desire, to KT, in an attempt to strengthen its market position in Korea but teaming up with the runner-up carrier obviously wasn’t enough to shed its also-ran status. SK Telecom users will be able to purchase the phone at 90,000 won (about $83) on a two-year contract that charges 55,000 won per month, which is less than the carrier charges for Samsung’s Galaxy II handsets. Jack Tong, president of HTC North Asia, admits that foreign vendors _ with the exception of Apple _ have been struggli

May 20, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung aims high in Latin America

Sales targets revised up to $10 billion By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics is aiming to reach $10 billion in revenues in Latin American markets next year as it believes more business opportunities will emerge there, the company’s chief executive said Thursday. The world’s biggest supplier of flat-screen displays has revised up this year’s investment target for flat screens to 10 trillion won capitalizing on next-generation flat-screen panels called organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). ``Samsung expects $8.5 billion in annual sales in the Central and South American markets by the end of this year and that will be increased to $10 billion next year,’’ said CEO Choi Gee-sung in an interview with The Korea Times. Choi arrived at Gimpo International Airport from his 10-day trip in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina with the company’s TV chief Yoon Boo-keun and handset division head Shin Jong-kyun. The company runs two manufacturing plants in each of Mexico and Brazil while it has three parts suppliers in Argentina. It sees stalled growth in demand for digital devices in

May 19, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

STX banks on expansion through energy, M&As

Chairman Kang drives conglomerate’s growth By Kim Yoo-chul STX Group has chalked up remarkable growth through successful mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first decade since the first business year of 2001. The trading and ship building and maintenance conglomerate is seeing another ``brisk decade’’ marked by its expansion in the energy sector plus more M&As. Chairman Kang Duk-soo has no doubts that the mid-tier conglomerate will grow further. ``The last decade was the time when STX was preparing for global expansion. The next decade will be the period when STX leads the market with improved internal capabilities,’’ Kang said recently. Kang has significantly helped STX emerge into a top-tier shipbuilder across the globe. Despite controversy, he led the way to strike sizable M&A deals because he thought they were necessary in securing the groundwork for key businesses. In 2000 Kang acquired the debt-ridden Ssangyong Heavy for 2 billion won of his own money and changed the name to STX. In 2001 its revenue was 260 billion won. Last year it rose to 26 trilli

May 18, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

LG Innotek strengthens marketing for LED lighting

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Innotek, LG Group's component-making affiliate, is strengthening its efforts to carve out a position in the fast-growing market for light-emitting diode (LED) lighting in North America. The advancement in technology has been allowing companies to produce brighter and more power-efficient LED bulbs and other products at lower costs. Company officials claim the market for LED lighting is on the verge of exploding as it moves away from the so-called "dark tunnel" period thanks to maturing technology and increased backing by governments around the world for power-efficient products and systems. LG Innotek is featuring a flat-screen lighting module dubbed "ModulA 1D" at the LightFair trade show in Philadelphia, which kicked off Wednesday (local time). The company said that the device, just 8 millimeters thick, comes with advanced LED backlight unit technology. It also unveiled AngulA which is claimed to be the first "indirect" type LED light engine that promises better efficiency. "We concluded from the show that brighter LED bulbs are going t

May 17, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Kim Yoo-chul

Read more

Ex-Hynix chief takes over Siemens Korea

KT to diversify portfolio

OCI to be listed on Singapore bourse

What will Samsung do about Apple?

LSIS to invest $30 million for green solutions

Setting sail for lucrative shores

Disgruntled HTC returns to SKT

Samsung aims high in Latin America

STX banks on expansion through energy, M&As

LG Innotek strengthens marketing for LED lighting

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