The Korea Times

With Lee Back, Its Not Business as Usual

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter Lee Kun-hee marks his first month back in office this weekend. The owner of Samsung Group made a comeback as chairman of Samsung Electronics, the conglomerate's flagship unit, last month, after an 11-month semi-forced exile. His comeback came at a time when the electronics giant is riding on a record profit but is facing a grim outlook for iPhone domination that is hurting Samsung's smartphones. Also in the background is Toyota, the powerhouse of Japan Inc., that has been reeling from massive recalls in the aftermath of revelations of widespread defects in its vehicles. He has already made his presence felt, talking in public about the grave situation for the Korean economy as well as for his firm. He told Japanese industrialists that Korea still has a great deal to learn from Japan, which was taken as a way of telling his employees not to be complacent. Lee was also actively but without drawing extra attention engaged in promoting PyeongChang's third bid for the Winter Olympics, as he had promised in return for a presidentia

Apr 22, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Which CEOs Are Performing Well?

Hyundai, Hynix, LG Display, HHI Post Good Returns By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter Convincing first-quarter performances by leading blue-chip companies in the technology, auto and shipbuilding sectors are further strengthening investor confidence. Company executives and analysts have no big questions over a bullish run in earnings throughout the remainder of the year as the global economy continues to recover. Demand from developed and developing markets, and corporations is expected to fuel purchases of consumer products such as digital devices and cars. Korea is home to top-tier makers of memory chips, used in products such as PCs, smartphones and digital cameras. The nation is also home to the world's top shipyard Hyundai Heavy and well-known carmaker Hyundai Motor. On Thursday, Hynix Semiconductor ― the world's No. 2 producer of memory chips after Samsung Electronics ― reported its biggest quarterly profit in more than three years after demand for personal computers and a memory chip shortage drove up prices. Referring to "healthier" chip price moves amid t

Apr 22, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Why Is SKT Holding BlackBerry Bag?

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry smartphone maker, is hoping to find new business momentum in Korea with the advanced BlackBerry. RIM, which has failed to yield any significant results here since its first launch of the BlackBerry Bold 9000 in December 2008 due to limited and unattractive specifications, is now aiming to attract consumers by offering mobile application-enabled new models. But it remains uncertain whether RIM will be able to increase its presence in Korea's smartphone sector, in which Apple leads the way, followed by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. "Korea is a graveyard for foreign handset markers. Motorola's Motoroi has just sold some 30,000 units over the last few months and the situation won't be much different, even for RIM," Han Eun-mi, an analyst at a local brokerage of Hi Investment said. "RIM's strategy is still heavily linked to its corporate clients. The maker will prepare more consumer-oriented strategies to gain a beachhead in Korea," according to the analyst. Dampened by such p

Apr 21, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

SK Denies Any Interest in North Korea Investment

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter SK Group denied reports that it is considering investing in North Korea. SK spokeswoman Ahn Jung-eun told The Korea Times Tuesday that the potential scenario was "groundless" and added that it did not make any sense, considering the current tense relations between the two nations. The denial came after it was announced that high-ranking officials from Dandong city in Liaoning Province were scheduled to meet key SK Group decision makers, including its chairman, Chey Tae-won and the CEO of SK Networks, Lee Chang-kyu, in Seoul sometime next week. "Again, the visit by the Chinese aims to attract South Korean capital to the free trade zone. That does not mean SK Group will make any significant decision," she added. According to reports, SK is reviewing a possibility to invest in a new free trade zone in North Korea. If SK pushes for the project, then SK would be the first South Korean company to advance into North Korea among South Korea's top 10 conglomerates besides those in the joint industrial park in the border city of Kaeson

Apr 20, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

LG Chem Posts Record Quarterly Sales

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter LG Chem, the nation's top chemical firm by sales, said Tuesday it has clinched record quarterly sales during the first three months of this year mainly helped by an increased share of the global market for information technology products. A market turnaround in the petrochemical sector has also lifted the demand for products in China, contributing to a strengthened cash balance sheet. Inspired by the strong results, LG Chem shares rose 2.08 percent to end at 245,000 won on the nation's main bourse, according to data from the Korea Exchange (KRX). In a regulatory filing to the KRX, LG Chem said its first quarter net profit surged by 73 percent to 517.7 billion won year-on-year, while the quarterly operating profit also jumped 34.6 percent to 652.4 billion won during the same period. Sales reached a record 4.42 trillion won, an increase of 32 percent from a year ago, the company said. All figures are based on the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS. "Higher operating profit from the petrochemical segment, sust

Apr 20, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

Hyosung Boosts Cultural Activities

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter Hyosung Group is enhancing its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Hyosung, a conglomerate with a focus on fibers and chemicals, is now paying special attention to helping the arts and cultural activities. "Last week, we arranged for Yo-Yo Ma to coach underprivileged children in Busan," a company spokesman said, Monday. "Boystown" was established in 1957 and currently provides a home for 490 orphans and children from low-income households. The Silk Road Ensemble, led by Ma, is a 12-year-old non-profit organization with the mission of bringing together musicians from different backgrounds and traditions. The ensemble is composed of a rotating group of musicians, composers, visual and other artists from more than 20 countries around the world. Their 2002 debut album was titled "The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan." Hyosung is making "Mecenat" one of its top priorities for its corporate philanthropy. Originating from the French word meaning patronage of the arts and culture, taken from the name of the ancient Roman p

Apr 19, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Apple Moves to Self-Produce Key Chips

Action May Pinch Chief Supplier Samsung Electronics By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter The situation seems negative for Samsung Electronics as one of its biggest overseas partners ― Apple ― is heavily injecting cash into its own chips. That means the California-based consumer electronics company will use an internally designed application processor (AP) in its upcoming 4G iPhones, officials and market watchers say. The AP is the main electronic brain for most high-end digital devices such as smartphones. The function of the non-memory chip is comparable to the CPU in PCs. While DRAM and NAND flash memory chips are just used to read, write and store data, the AP controls the whole operating system, and also promising sustainable and steady profits regardless of volatile market situations in chips. Samsung Electronics, the world's top vendor of memory chips but a second-tier player in the more profitable non-memory sector, has so far been supplied APs for Apple's 3G iPhones, Samsung officials say. The upgraded iPhone is expected to make its U.S. debut by the first

Apr 19, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

SK, KT Bleeding in Uphill Battle Over Smartphone Market

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter SK Telecom and KT, the country's bitter telecommunications rivals, are pulling no punches in their battle for supremacy in advanced mobile devices such as smartphones. And the two companies would be the first to admit that the ferocious competition is going to lead to battered and bruised first-quarter report cards. Not that things are expected to get much better as the year advances, says industry watchers, who predict that marketing expenses will only increase in the coming months when a slew of new devices hit the market. High-end devices such as the Apple iPhone and Motorola Motoroi are critical for the mobile carriers, who hope that the increase in data revenue will make up for declining voice sales. The companies are also investing heavily in new customer services that use Wi-Fi-enabled phones. KT is pushing a new service called fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), an Internet telephony service that allows users to switch between fixed-lines and mobile networks using a single handset. And in what is considered a direct attack

Apr 18, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Companies

Samsung Insists Chip Line Is Safe

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter YONGIN, Gyeonggi Province ― Samsung Electronics, the world's top manufacturer of memory chips, has denied mounting allegations that recent deaths of its chip plant workers were caused by life-threatening materials at its worksites. In a rare press conference with 80 domestic and foreign reporters, the company's memory chip division President Cho Soo-in, said the company will conduct a review of all production processes and materials with registered institutes and academics including some from the United States. ``Benzene had not been used during the manufacturing processes ever. Meanwhile, it's impossible for workers to be widely exposed to radioactive materials. Safety locks are always in place,'' Cho said at the company's chip complex in Yongin on the outskirts of Seoul. Samsung is grappling with criticism by civic groups that the death of a female employee on March 31 from leukemia was directly caused by exposure to radioactive rays and benzene. The 23-year-old Park Ji-yeon had worked at Samsung's chip plant in Onyang ― North Chungche

Apr 15, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Tech & Science

Japanese TV Makers’ Heavy Investment to Weigh on Samsung

By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter Over the past few years, Japanese TV majors have been bleeding from falling profits and losing shares, hit by weakening demand and a strong yen as well as the widening share gap with their biggest Korean rivals. In order to boost the "bottom line," the Japanese have heavily shifted, hoping for rises in the demand for liquid crystal display (LCD)-embedded consumer products such as LED-backlit LCD TVs. The strategic transition by Sharp and Panasonic, among those Japanese majors, are not good news for Samsung Electronics and LG Display ― the world's top two producers of flat-screens ― as increased outputs could make the industry to suffer from another oversupply. "Boosted by the better outlook in the global consumer electronics industry and weakening yen against the U.S. dollar, Japanese TV makers are massively betting on their investments for flat-screens. That means more price competition with the Koreans," Park Sang-hyun, an analyst at a local brokerage of Hi Investment, wrote in a memo to clients, Wednesday. Samsung and LG Display could

Apr 14, 2010By Kim Yoo-chul

Kim Yoo-chul

Read more

With Lee Back, Its Not Business as Usual

Which CEOs Are Performing Well?

Why Is SKT Holding BlackBerry Bag?

SK Denies Any Interest in North Korea Investment

LG Chem Posts Record Quarterly Sales

Hyosung Boosts Cultural Activities

Apple Moves to Self-Produce Key Chips

SK, KT Bleeding in Uphill Battle Over Smartphone Market

Samsung Insists Chip Line Is Safe

Japanese TV Makers’ Heavy Investment to Weigh on Samsung

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