The Korea Times

Groupon cashing in on social commerce craze

By Kim Yoo-chul An email a day to keep the expenses at bay… Offering deals on everything from restaurants to dance lessons, now in Korea, you can also open an email from Groupon Int’l for an amazing deal-of-the-day as it attempts to get a leg up on Ticket Monster in the local nascent but highly-lucrative social commerce market. With strong after-sales (AS) policies and flexible refund systems, the U.S.-based “granddaddy” of group buying websites, is targeting a monthly 10 billion in “volume” transactions, within the first half of this year, according to a senior company executive at the launch event, Monday. ``Given how competitive the South Korean market is, we are fully committed to grow a great Korean business. Full investment support is ready,’’ said Matt Zafirovski, a vice president of Groupon Int’l., responsible for its businesses outside the U.S. ``It’s guaranteed that consumers who bought tickets in our websites will get 100 percent refund within seven days but according to related South Korean law. Also, a `partner manager system’ could help partners provide q

Mar 14, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Apple twists arm of new vendor SK Telecom

iPhone maker meddles in such details as disclosing preorders By Kim Yoo-chul SK Telecom is regarded as being at the top of the value chain in the wireless telephony industry. The Korean carrier has bossed around handset makers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

Mar 14, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

LG Chem wins GMs top supplier award

By Kim Yoo-chul LG Chem, producer of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (EVs), was named Corporation of the Year at the 19th annual General Motors Supplier of the Year awards. This is the first time for a Korean firm to win the top GM prize, LG Chem spokesman Song Choong-sup said, Sunday. ``The award also recognizes LG Chem as the most trust-worthy among 20,000 parts suppliers,’’ Song said. LG Chem. is currently supplying its lithium-ion batteries to GM’s strategic Volt EVs. ``LG Chem’s lithium-ion batteries play a pivotal role in the production of the Volt automobile. The award shows the U.S. carmaker’s recognition of our innovative and cooperative partnership,’’ the company CEO Kim Bahn-suk said in a press release. In January, 2009, LG beat a Germany-U.S. consortium to win the GM battery deal. It has been supplying the key component to GM on an exclusive basis since late last year. Including GM, LG Chem has secured contracts with 10 leading automakers such as Ford, Renault and Hyundai-Kia. LG is planning to build a new electrolyte productio

Mar 13, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

Samsung, Hyundai vying to recruit former BMW designer Bangle

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics is looking to hire Chris Bangle, a charismatic figure who was previously the chief designer at BMW for nearly two decades. Although he is already working with Samsung, the employment contract has been not officially finalized. “Samsung is working with Bangle on a specific project basis. If he signs a formal contract with us, then he will take the role of advisor,” a Samsung spokesman said Sunday. A Samsung official declined to comment but reports say Bangle is expected to contribute to the design of Samsung’s high-end portable products such as notebooks and handsets. An American among mainly European designers in the industy, Bangle is known to be innovative but controversial as his work has been described negatively such as “Bangle-butt” for the rear of the BMW 7 series or “Bangleized” for anything he has contributed to designing. By getting Bangle onboard, Samsung is placing more stress on the design of its products but may face competition in recruiting Bangle from Hyundai Motor. Hyundai Vice Chairma

Mar 13, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

Samsung leader rejects profit-sharing scheme

By Kim Yoo-chul Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, rejected Thursday a proposal by former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan to put greater pressure on large businesses to share their profits with small- and medium sized companies. ``I don’t know whether it is used in a socialist country, a capitalist country or a communist nation. It’s out of focus whether or not the idea is positive or negative,” the 69-year-old tycoon said in reference to the controversial proposal of profit sharing. “But I’ve never heard of it, though I’ve studied economics.’’ Lee made the remarks, which were taken as a rare show of direct criticism, during his meeting with a group of reporters before attending the meeting of conglomerate leaders hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) _ the big business lobby. This was the first time in four years he showed up for such a meeting, which was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Seoul. Profit sharing is being prompted by Chung, who now heads a blue-ribbon commission on shared growth for large and small companies. He

Mar 10, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung, LG in war of words

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are moving to release advanced Internet-enabled 3D TVs, with each one believing their product is far more advanced than the others. 3D has emerged as the next big thing in the global television industry as leading TV makers believe this functionality will bring more revenue than LCDs and plasma TVs amid flattening demand in terms of growth. LG is hoping to break Samsung’s current lead in the global 3D TV market, claiming that its film-based technology is better than its rivals. Samsung is forming a united front with

Mar 10, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Is Yoon to blame for falling KT stock price?

By Kim Yoo-chul KT is one of the two top corporations in the local telecom industry, but as far as share prices are concerned, the Bundang, Gyeonggi Province-based outfit is struggling to find its feet. Under the stewardship of Chairman Lee Suk-chae, the company has seen good times with the successful launch of the iPhone and iPad, which overwhelmed KT’s nemesis SK Telecom. Yet, its stock price currently moves in the vicinity of 40,000 won, similar to the value of the firm nearly a decade ago when it was fully privatized midway through 2002. Even the maneuvers of its executives and workers have fail to boost its value on the Seoul bourse ― Chairman Lee has personally shelled out 200 million won to buy about 5,000 shares. Other KT executives also forked out billions of won to snap up the outfit’s shares, with Vice Chairman Suk Ho-ick purchasing 1,220 and division head Lee Sang-hun and Seo Yu-yeol locking up 1,000, each. The firm even offered stock incentives under which each of its 31,000 workers received 400,000 won on average. ``We want our employees to buy mo

Mar 10, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Samsung Electronics, Hynix to invest $12 billion

Firms to maintain competitive price advantage over rivals By Kim Yoo-chul Korean chipmakers are investing more to maintain their pricing initiatives to keep Japanese and Taiwanese firms at bay. This year’s combined investment by Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor is projected to reach 13.7 trillion won ($12 billion) ― 10.3 trillion won for Samsung and 3.4 trillion for Hynix. Samsung plans to invest 5.8 trillion won in advancing memory chips including DRAMs and NANDs, while the rest will be going towards less-volatile system memories. ``Samsung has cut its spending on memory chips by 35 percent year-on-year but its 5.8 trillion won in planned investment is aggressive, considering its heavy spending on new lines last year,’’ said an Samsung executive, asking not to be identified. Park Hyun of Hynix said more cash will be used to speed up its efforts to switch to more profitable and advanced thinner chip-making technologies. Hynix’s targeted investment is in contrast to No. 3 DRAM maker Elpida of Japan, which just released a tepid investment plan, which se

Mar 9, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Lee propagates No. 1 philosophy

By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee said Tuesday that there is no time to waste in achieving the goal of making the best products and becoming No. 1 in given markets. "We don't even have time to think," Lee told reporters upon returning from a tour aimed at drumming up support for the bid by PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. "We must improve the quality of our existing products and make better products so as to be No.1 in the market." A senior Samsung spokesman said that Lee's remarks should be taken as a confirmation of what he believes in. Lee's remarks came at a time when Samsung is competing with Apple over a variety of products from smartphones to tablet computers. At the same time, Samsung is striving to find new growth engines to keep it relevant for the decades to come. Although its Galaxy S smartphones and Galaxy Tab tablets are seeing good responses from consumers in the United States and Europe, investors and analysts are calling for Samsung to offer more wow products that highlight both hardware

Mar 8, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

UNVEIL captures mobile trends

By Kim Yoo-chul How can one define the current mobile environment? The LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) has come up with a set of initials ― UNVEIL. As with any hurriedly-made acronyms, it also requires more than a little imagination to make a sense of it. U stands for ubiquitous; N for natural; V for vanishing; E for ecology; I for integration, and L for leadership. Regarding ubiquity, the private research center said that the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecommunications industry’s biggest annual trade fair, highlighted the advancement in ubiquitous computing and near field communication technology and innovations in user interfaces of consumer electronics products. The increasingly popular touch-screen tablet computers are also proving to be game-changers, LGERI said. “Natural” and “Vanishing” mean smooth and seamless interfaces, blurring the boundaries between televisions, personal computers and handsets. ``Televisions, PCs and mobile phones are no longer separated as they are starting to overlap each other’s features. The race to injec

Mar 7, 2011By Kim Yoo-chul

Kim Yoo-chul

Read more

Groupon cashing in on social commerce craze

Apple twists arm of new vendor SK Telecom

LG Chem wins GMs top supplier award

Samsung, Hyundai vying to recruit former BMW designer Bangle

Samsung leader rejects profit-sharing scheme

Samsung, LG in war of words

Is Yoon to blame for falling KT stock price?

Samsung Electronics, Hynix to invest $12 billion

Lee propagates No. 1 philosophy

UNVEIL captures mobile trends

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