The Korea Herald

U.S. judge may cut Samsung damages

IndustryDec 7, 2012

Korean firm seeks to overturn jury verdict while Apple pursues permanent sales bans at patent hearing
Judge calls for "global peace" in Apple-Samsung war

IndustryDec 7, 2012

A judge mulling whether to trim or overturn Apple's billion-dollar damages award against Samsung on Thursday called for a ceasefire in the ongoing patent war between the smartphone titans."I think it's time for global peace," US District Court Judge Lucy Koh said after legal teams from Apple and Samsung dueled for hours over post-verdict motions in her courtroom in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose."Let me hear if there is anything the court can do," she continued. "It would be good for consum
Card firms charge high loan rates despite regulatory call

Dec 7, 2012

South Korea‘s credit card companies have been making huge profits from charging high interest rates on card loan users, despite the regulatory move to lower the rates, industry data showed Friday.The portion of card loan borrowers that owed the highest interest rate charged by card firms accounted for 20-65 percent out of the total as of the end of November, according to card firms’ data.A card loan refers to a loan extended by a card company based on the borrower‘s credit. Its highest rate band
Russian iTunes users get XXX content

TechnologyDec 7, 2012

Russian iTunes users got more than they bargained for when XXX-rated content showed up in their movie section, Wired.com says.When iTunes was launched in Russia, users who went to the “more films in different languages” section to download mainstream movie fare, they instead found content from porn sites, escort services and purveyors of sex toys, the online tech website reported Wednesday.Wired.com said the folks at iPhones.ru thought iTunes‘ tech staff may have put some temporary xx.xx.xx plac
Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains

Dec 7, 2012

South Korean stocks started higher Friday following overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.3 percent, or 5.84 points, to 1,955.46 in the first 15 minutes of trading.No. 2 home appliance maker LG Electronics advanced 1.08 percent after last session's sharp drop due to a cartel fine by the European Union.Top steelmaker POSCO gained 1.66 percent and second-largest carmaker Kia Motors climbed 0.49 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial
Samsung, Apple face off in U.S. court

IndustryDec 7, 2012

Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. sparred in a key U.S. court hearing on Thursday in which Samsung sought to overturn a jury verdict while the iPhone maker ramped up calls for sales bans of several Samsung products.Samsung suffered a crushing defeat in late August, when a U.S. jury ordered US$1.05 billion in damages after finding some Samsung smartphones and tablets infringed on Apple patents.Earlier in the day, U.S. federal judge Lucy Koh resumed a court session between the world's two top
iPhone 5 hits S. Korea

TechnologyDec 7, 2012

Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5 made its belated debut in South Korea on Friday with avid fans welcoming the latest iPhone amid the U.S. smartphone maker's ongoing patent battle with homegrown player Samsung Electronics Co.SK Telcom Co. and KT Corp., the country's two biggest mobile carriers, kicked off the release of the first iPhone that runs on the fourth-generation long-term evolution (LTE) network after beginning pre-orders a week earlier.While Apple rolled out the latest iPhone on its home turf in e
Near-zero Q3 growth puts 2012 goal out of reach

Dec 6, 2012

Korea’s third-quarter growth slowed to a level seen at the height of the global financial crisis in 2009, dimming the chances of Asia’s fourth-largest economy achieving its annual growth outlook of 2.4 percent.According to the Bank of Korea on Thursday, the nation’s July-September real GDP grew only 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, half the estimate announced in October. Korea had grown 0.1 percent on-quarter in the first three months of 2009, when it was hit most by the global financial c
KEB opens euro trade finance center in Germany

Dec 6, 2012

Korea Exchange Bank said Thursday it opened a “Euro Trade Finance and Remittance Center,” or “Euro Center” for short, in Frankfurt.It is the first such center to be established by a Korean bank, according to KEB.KEB’s German arm which runs the Euro Center is a regular member of Europe’s integrated remittance system and wires money on a real-time basis to about 57,000 other member banks.Korean officials at the Euro Center can confirm the receipt of remittance on the day Korean customers wire the
Singapore, Qantas to revise refund policy

IndustryDec 6, 2012

The nation’s antitrust watchdog ordered Singapore Airlines and Australia’s Qantas Airways on Wednesday to fix their unfair refund policy on discounted flight tickets. Unlike other air carriers that offer some refunds for cancellation, the two companies were found to have not paid back any of the ticket prices except oil surcharges and taxes. The Fair Trade Commission said, even considering price benefits of the discounted tickets, the two companies put excessive pressure on consumers. Following
LG smartphone sales top 3m on home turf

TechnologyDec 6, 2012

South Korean handset maker LG Electronics Inc. has sold more than 3 million smartphones in the local market, bolstering the company’s drive to escape its smartphone laggard status, a company official said Thursday.LG Electronics saw its domestic smartphone shipments top 3-million units in the first 10 months of the year, breaking the milestone for the first time, according to an LG Electronics official. While end-November figures were unavailable, the company is expected to sell a total of 3.5 m
Shares edge up amid lingering U.S. fiscal woes

Dec 6, 2012

South Korean stocks crawled 0.13 percent up Thursday as investors sat on the sidelines to watch progress in U.S. fiscal cliff negotiations, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.58 points to 1,949.62. Trading volume was light at 335 million shares worth 4.6 trillion won (US$4.3 billion) with decliners outpacing advancers 427 to 385.“The U.S. fiscal cliff widely dominates the market, while there are no other
Renault Samsung mulls sale of factory land

IndustryDec 6, 2012

Renault Samsung Motors is considering selling some of the land at its second manufacturing plant site in Busan, company officials said Thursday.The land sale plan allegedly comes as part of the carmaker’s efforts to overcome a lackluster sales performance.Though Renault Samsung had pushed ahead with building the second plant, it has yet to launch the construction process amid the situation that its sales in the local market dropped more than 30 percent on a year-on-year basis.A company executive
CJ O Shopping starts services in Turkey

Dec 6, 2012

CJ O Shopping Co., a South Korean cable home shopping channel, said Thursday that it has launched a 24-hour TV home shopping channel in Turkey. In order to tap the Turkish home-shopping market, CJ O Shopping formed MCJ, a joint venture with MediaSa, a Turkish media group, the local company said. CJ O Shopping will be able to broadcast programs on consumer products to 13 million households in the country or 80 percent of its overall population, via the channel named “MCJ,” the company said. The S
LG, Samsung to appeal massive fine in EU

TechnologyDec 6, 2012

LG Electronics and Samsung SDI announced Thursday that they will appeal the European Commission’s 450 million euro (630 billion won) fine that was imposed for an alleged cartel in computer and television parts. The two Korean firms are determined to appeal the case with the European court after thoroughly reviewing all necessary legal aspects. The European antitrust watchdog decided Wednesday to charge LG 300 million euro (420 billion won) and Samsung 150 million euro (210 billion won), along wi