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Companies

Big firms to report strongest quarter

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter This month, major industrial leaders plan to report their performance for the April-June period, with Samsung Electronics, POSCO and other heavyweights expected to show their strongest-ever quarter. "It seems quite evident that leading Korean companies will post record earnings during the latest quarter,'' said Kim Hak-kyun, a chief analyst at Daewoo Securities. Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest technology company by revenue, will announce its second quarter earnings on July 7. Steel giant POSCO is set to announce its second quarter report on July 13, followed by Shinsegae, LG Hausys and LG Chem on July 14, 15 and 16, respectively, companies said. In the third week of July, electronics majors including LG Display, Hynix Semiconductor, Glovis, Hyundai-Kia and SK Energy will report their quarterly earnings, as will leading banks. LG Electronics, LG Innotek, Samsung SDI, KT, KCC and Hyundai Steel are planning to announce their results during the last week of July. Samsung Electronics is widely forecast to exceed 5 trillion wo

Jul 4, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Companies

Doosan reshuffles management

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter The Doosan Group of companies, one of the country's largest and oldest family-owned conglomerates, completed a management shakeup Friday that involved 70 key executive positions across its business kingdom. Doosan officials said the reshuffling was part of its efforts to regroup and thereby more effectively exploit opportunities in global markets. Among the company officials promoted, Kim Ha-bang garnered the most attention, as he is now responsible for leading the nuclear plants-related business of Doosan Heavy Industries, which is quickly becoming a critical business engine for the group. Park In-won, son of group Chairman Park Yong-hyun, was also promoted to an executive position of Doosan Engine’s strategic planning office. ``The performance-based personnel reshuffle is aimed at improving our efforts for going global and giving more autonomy to each business unit to pursue new opportunities,’’ said a Doosan spokesman. ``We will maintain flexibility in executive positions, and introduce further incentives based on individual pe

Jul 2, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Companies

Samsung Electronics raises TV sales target

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter Samsung Electronics, the world’s top maker of flat-screen televisions, has upped its global sales target for 2010 to reflect bullish expectations from the strengthening market. The previous target announced by the company in January was 39 million TVs, but the company is now saying that 45 to 50 million could be reachable. ``The robust demand for light-emitting diode (LED) and 3D LED-backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions is inspiring confidence and this explains our decision to improve our sales target by around 28 percent,’’ said Yoon Boo-keun, who heads Samsung’s visual display division. ``Panels for 3D televisions are still in tight supply, but we will see a balance between demand and supply sometime during August. We still maintain our global sales target for 2.6 million 3D TVs,’’ he said. Yoon said that the newer, feature-packed models are forcing a paradigm shift in the television market and it will be important for Samsung to developed localized content for each region to fuel its product sales. ``Applications in

Jul 2, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Sony aims to hit Korea with 3D TV onslaught

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter In the competitive market for flat-screen televisions, Samsung Electronics reigns as at the expense of a dethroned Sony. However, the iconic Japanese electronics maker vows to regain its upper-hand and might as well start with attacking the Korean technology giant on its home-turf, just like Apple successfully did with smartphones in the past year. Sony is accelerating its marketing push for its three-dimensional (3D)-enabled televisions, which have been pegged as the natural successor to the high-definition (HD) flat screens of today. Sony believes that its still-strong reputation for technology and quality will help it shake the Samsung-LG Electronics duopoly in the local market for premium televisions, and it realistically expects to compete in prices too. Although television manufacturers around the world have just begun shipping their first 3D televisions to the market, the hefty price-tags of the products have made consumers hesitant. Sony, however, is promising to deliver its 3D televisions at ``considerably lower’’ prices

Jul 2, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Companies

LG to make comeback in smartphone market

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter LG Electronics will make a comeback in the smartphone field, now dominated ― domestically ― by Apple and Samsung Electronics, Ahn Seung-kwon, the company's mobile business chief, said Thursday. Ahn said that his company is planning to launch more premium smartphone models this year. They are based on Google-powered Android and Microsoft's Windows Mobile, and North America and Europe will also be targeted. "We will boost our premium lineup," Ahn said in an interview. His comments came at a time when LG has become a bystander in the battle between Apple and Samsung in the important mobile segment. This produced a significant drop in operating profit in LG's mobile business to 0.9 percent in the first quarter of the year from more than 10 percent in previous quarters. The trend is widely forecast to continue with a further slide in the second quarter. "We didn't expect the smartphone market to mature this quickly," Ahn said. "We will make a comeback in the third quarter." He explained that 10 design-focused and specification-rich sma

Jul 1, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

LG Uplus sets annual sales goal of $8.2 bil.

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter LG Uplus, formerly known as LG Telecom, is aiming to reap 10 trillion won ($8.2 billion) in annual sales by 2014, with its focus on smartphone services. LG Group's telecom unit is expected to reach 1 trillion won in annual operating profit in four years time. Investments will be geared for better wireless-linked capabilities. "LG Uplus will expand wireless telecommunication infrastructure and boost broadband lines," Lee Sang-chul, chief executive of the company said in a news conference at a Seoul hotel, Thursday. The name change follows LG Telecom's merger with its fixed-line affiliates LG Dacom and LG Powercom this year in a bid to boost profit and enhance synergy. "It's true that LG is making a late start in the smartphone market. But we don't worry too much about the number of smartphone models," Lee told reporters. Many of the reporters' questions were related to LG’s smartphone business, which is far behind Samsung and Apple. Lee said the company will sell Samsung Electronics' Galaxy L smartphone in Korea from July and a

Jul 1, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

No major reshuffle expected at LG

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo is not going after a general reshuffle over its electronics division's dismal performance, group representatives said Thursday. "Chairman Koo encouraged the executives to do better. It’s not his style to sack his employees over a short-term performance," one of them said. Koo has just finished an annual one-month-long series of "Consensus Meetings" (CM) with his top executives, and attention was given to his meeting with Nam Yong, the LG Electronics CEO. LG is expected to suffer a freefall of its quarterly profit during the April-June period mostly due to what analysts say are "smartphone woes." "I am asking chief executives to work for the long haul. Take some more time to find customized ways to boost competitiveness in businesses," Koo was quoted as saying during the CM. "The key question is what we should do to guarantee the group's prosperity over the long-term," he said. LG officials said that Koo's remarks were intended to encourage them to work better so as to regain lost ground in pivotal b

Jul 1, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Companies

Seoul 14th in cost of living for expats

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter Seoul was ranked as the 14th most expensive city for expatriates to live in, according to a global consulting firm Wednesday. Mercer's recent "Cost of Living Survey," which compared the costs of 200 items in 214 cities worldwide, found Luanda in Angola as the most expensive city, while Karachi in Pakistan was the cheapest. Housing, transport, food, clothing and household necessities and entertainment were the critical factors for the rankings, Mercer said. The results were based on a survey conducted in March 2010 factoring in the monthly average exchange rate for February. Last year, Seoul was the 51st most expensive city thanks to a drop in the won's value against the dollar ­ it ranked third and second in 2007 and 2006, respectively. Mercer said the fall in the rankings was mainly because of the weakening greenback and strengthening Korean won. "That's due to the won's gain against the dollar at that time. Meanwhile, the demand for good expatriate housing increased amid signs of an economic recovery," Nathalie Constantin-Metral

Jun 30, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

SK Telecom rekindles overseas expansion

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter SK Telecom has seen a faster transition of its global strategies by implementing target-driven plans to efficiently find new business models. The corporate shift came after the nation's top mobile carrier failed to yield "satisfactory results" for its direct telecommunications investment in the United States, China and Vietnam. SK Telecom was trying to boost its international profile by purchasing stakes in particular companies. But its investment of some $400 million in Helio of the United States didn't pay off. SK also departed from China Unicom by selling back of its 3.8 stake. In Vietnam, the carrier has suspended additional investment in the joint venture, S-Fone. "It's evident that SK Telecom is seeking some of our next revenue sources outside the peninsula. Inspired by the needs for detailed and fine-tuned strategies, we are shifting our global strategies to lift industrial growth," said Cindy Kang, a spokeswoman for SK Telecom. The new phrase in representing SK Telecom's global strategy is industry productivity enhancement or

Jun 30, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
Tech & Science

Samsung boosts global channels of communication

Focus shifts from hardware to software PR By Kim Yoo-chul Staff reporter Samsung Group, the nation's biggest conglomerate, is planning to create a new unit focusing on better communication with foreign consumers and media outlets. "Samsung will launch the 'Global Communications Group' as part of its corporate strategy to strengthen and diversify communication channels with consumers through foreign media," a group spokesman Kenneth Hong said. This is the first time Samsung has given full authority to handle foreign media to an independent unit. Samsung Group and Samsung Electronics employ some staff members to deal with overseas media. But their roles are limited. Lee Kun-hyuck, a senior executive of Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI), will lead the new team, according to the spokesman. Lee, who formerly handled Korea’s macro-economic issues at the finance ministry, has been working for Samsung since June 2005. The team leader worked as a senior researcher of the Asia-Pacific region at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and was a chief economist

Jun 30, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul
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