[THE INVESTOR] Telecommunications firm KT posted second quarter operating profit of 427 billion won (US$379.6 million) -- its highest quarterly operating income in four years -- thanks to solid performances in its wireless network, landline telecom, and media businesses.The quarterly profit reflected a 15.8 percent increase on-year, KT said on July 29. Sales were up 4.5 percent to 5.68 trillion won. KT headquartersThe number of subscribers for KT's Long Term Evolution network service in the seco

Google Korea will open a free indoor entertainment space dubbed “Google Play Arcade” at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Friday, with aims to introduce and bring mobile games closer to the wider public.From taking the stage to become the South Korean champion of “Clash Royal” to physically climbing up the virtual steps on “Infinite Stairs,” visitors to the arcade can experience a wide range of mobile games in new and interactive ways.A view inside the “Google Play Arcade” which opens Friday a

South Korea’s most popular messenger Kakao’s transport services are picking up speed, spanning the gamut from taxi-hailing to navigation. “We are expanding transport services with the aim of relieving customers’ daily inconveniences through mobile services,” the company’s spokesperson said.  (Kakao)Kakao Taxi, which was launched in March last year, is a popular service, with 150 million calls in total made through it so far. The taxi-hailing service has also raised drivers’ incomes by effectivel

LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter operating profit surged 139.5 percent from the same period last year. LG Electronics earned 584.6 billion won ($519.6 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 244 billion won for the same quarter last year. Second-quarter sales grew 0.5 percent on year to 14 trillion won, LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics posted its best quarterly results in more than two years and it expects continued solid performance in the latter half of this year. The tech giant said Thursday it posted 8.1 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in operating profit in the second quarter, an 18 percent jump on-year. Revenue for the quarter rose 4.9 percent to 50 trillion won.The growth was mainly driven by its mobile business, which posted 4.3 trillion won in operating income. Its flagship smartphone Galaxy S7 series

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDI, the battery arm of Samsung Group, posted operating loss of 54.2 billion won (US$48.13 million) in the second quarter, the company said in its quarterly earnings report on July 28. The company, however, narrowed its losses from 58.81 billion won a year earlier and 703.75 billion won from the previous quarter. Sales stood at 1.31 trillion won, up 11.95 percent on-year. In the April-June period, the net profit came to 955.8 billion won, reversing a loss of 310.3 billion

[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom said July 28 that it would increase its capital expenditure by 100 billion won (US$88.90 million) to 2.1 trillion won this year to upgrade its existing telecommunications infrastructure.The company announced the investment plan after announcing its second-quarter earnings on the day. The head office of SK Telecom in SeoulSome market watchers considered the latest decision an unexpected move as the nation’s telecom market has reached a near-saturation point.The mobile ne

[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom, the nation’s largest telecom carrier, on July 28 posted its second-quarter operating profit of 478.2 billion won (US$425 million), a 20.73 percent surge from a year ago. Revenue was also up 11.25 percent to 3.92 trillion won. But the upbeat results included huge cost cuts following an earlier retirement program during the cited period. Industry watchers estimate about 9.04 percent on-year decline in its operating profit. In a saturated telecom market, the company with

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics saw its operating income soar nearly 140 percent on-year to 584.6 billion won (US$519.7 million) in the April-June period on the back of strong sales of home appliances and air-conditioning systems, the company said in its earnings report on July 28.The company’s revenue came in at 14 trillion won, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier. LG Electronics’ R&D center in Seocho, Seoul  /  LG ElectronicsLG’s home appliance & air solution unit and home entertainment unit -- t

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s Internet giant Naver said it would try to increase its global presence with its mobile services, including the webtoon platform, Snow, a Snapchat-like app, and V-App, a video streaming service focused on Korean pop culture.“The webtoon, Snow and V-App services have made remarkable achievement so far in the global market,” said Kim Sang-hun, CEO of the Pangyo-based company, in the second-quarter conference call on July 28.“If the company pushes further together with i

[THE INVESTOR] Electronic components firm LG Innotek said July 28 that it would invest US$ 230 million by 2018 to build a camera module factory in Haiphong, the third largest city of Vietnam.The company’s board of directors approved a new funding of US$ 20 million to be used for setting up a local branch at a meeting in Seoul on July 27. LG Innotek`s camera moduleLG Innotek will roll out camera modules for smartphones and vehicles at the new factory in Vietnam, where the monthly minimum wage is

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is pinning high hopes on its upcoming Galaxy Note 7 smartphone with a curved screen that will debut on Aug. 2 in New York, London and Rio de Janeiro. “Like its Galaxy S7 sibling that is receiving positive market reviews, the Galaxy Note 7 will meet market expectations,” a Samsung executive said in the firm’s second-quarter conference call on July 28. Together with its high-end flagship models, the company said its budget smartphones such as the Galaxy A, J and

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics said in its second-quarter conference call on July 28 that it would for the time being focus on rolling out 10-nanometer semiconductors rather than moving onto still-fledgling 7-nanometer chips. “The 10-nanometer chip production boasts the highest efficiency and is fit for commercialization,” an official from the tech giant said in the conference call held in the morning. Samsung Electronics’ 10-nano class DRAM chips.The company added that it is ready to produc

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics said on July 28 that sales of the curved-screen Galaxy S7 Edge made up more than 50 percent of its total flagship S7 sales in the April-June period. The Korean tech giant didn’t reveal the specific sales figure of the S7 phones during the conference call on the day. Industry watchers estimate a combined 270 million S7 and its Edge variant phones have been sold in the first half of this year since their March launch. Running on the upbeat mood, Samsung has also

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics said on July 28 it has shipped about 90 million handsets in the April-June period with smartphones making up more than 80 percent of the total. Samsung’s second-quarter smartphone shipments are estimated at about 72 million units, almost doubling its archrival Apple’s iPhone shipments of 40.4 million units during the same period.The Korean tech giant unveiled the sales figure in a conference call after announcing its second-quarter earnings earlier in the day.