Samsung Electronics’ flagship Galaxy S7 is off to a promising start, with its sales in the U.S., the home turf of its archrival Apple’s iPhone, soaring 30 percent in the first month of sales from a year ago. According to a survey by analyst firm Counterpoint Research, the Galaxy S7 and its Edge variant have sold more than 10 million units over the past month since their global launch on March 11.  The figure is up 25 percent from that of predecessor Galaxy S6 last year, found the survey based on

PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO INNOVATION CENTER -- President Park Geun-hye (left) and LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo look at products made by venture companies based at the Center for Creative Economy and Innovation in North Chungcheong Province, a start-up incubation center run by the conglomerate, on Friday. (Yonhap)

KT, NOKIA TEST COMPACT BASE STATON -- Executives and researchers from telecommunications firm KT and network equipment firm Nokia demonstrate a small cell base station based on the Long-Term Evolution-Wi-Fi aggregation technology for the first time in the world. The mobile network base station combines LTE and Wi-Fi signals to enable fast network communication in an efficient manner. (KT)

Information technology solutions developer Samsung SDS, once considered as a key Samsung Group affiliate in the inheritance process of the conglomerate’s owner family, is struggling as it is expected to see a significant drop in earnings in the first quarter of this year. Some analysts speculated the recent struggles are largely because the hype over its role in the family inheritance has fizzled.Chung Yoo-sung, chief executive of Samsung SDS. (Samsung SDS)Its share price dropped to a record low

LG HQS BRIGHTENS WITH G5 -- LG Electronics said Friday it has begun the G5 Time event, in which it turns on the lights at the firm’s head office in Seoul to depict the name of its flagship smartphone G5. The light show will run from 9 p.m. through midnight daily for the next two months. (LGE)

Korea Communications Commission chairman Choi Sung-joon said Thursday he will have discussions with top officials from the U.S. communications regulator over a proposed merger of IPTV firm SK Broadband and cable TV company CJ HelloVision this month.Chairman Choi and officials from the Korean regulator are scheduled to fly to the U.S. on Feb. 17 and meet with the Federal Communications Commission officials including chairman Tom Wheeler.Choi Sung-joong, the chairman of Korea Communications Commis

Gyeonggi science technology center serves as bridge between start-ups and tech heavyweights

Samsung Electronics performed better than expected in the first quarter, largely driven by the upbeat sales of its flagship Galaxy S7 smartphone. The Korean tech giant said Thursday in a regulatory filing that its operating profit in the first three months this year was likely 6.6 trillion won ($5.7 billion), well above the average 5.6 trillion won estimate by local analysts.  Pedestrians pass a Samsung Electronics retail store in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul, on Thursday. (Yonhap)The figure is u

ULTIMATE STABILITY--Professional card stacker Bryan Berg builds a 3.3-meter-tall house of cards, the tallest of its kind built in 12 hours and a new Guinness World Record, on LG Electronics’ running front-load washing machine Centum, at an event organized by the tech giant in Seoul last month.　(LGE)

Samsung Group on Thursday announced 33 research projects it intends to fund in the first half of this year. The group has sponsored a total of 231 research projects in basic science and material and information and communications technology fields since August 2013 as part of its efforts to help the nation secure futuristic fundamental technologies.The group plans to spend 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) by 2022. This year’s list includes a study on sustainable amino acid synthesis by Seoul Nati

Internet giant, named ‘big business group’ by FTC, faces more restrictions than benefits

Yanolija, a local motel booking company, has pulled fresh investment worth 15 billion won ($13 million) from investors from the U.K. and Korea, it said Wednesday.SL Investment Management of the U.K. and a Seoul-based investor, Partners Investment, have decided to invest in the motel booking business, which has been logging growth in recent years. The logo of motel booking service Yanolja (Yanolja)Established in 2007, the motel booking business posted 36.7 billion won in sales in 2015, up 82 perc

LG Display, one of Korea’s leading display manufacturers, said Wednesday it has signed a deal with the city government of Hai Phong, the third-largest city in Vietnam, to build a display module factory there.The Korean display firm will first spend $100 million to establish a local office in the city and begin construction of the factory later this year. It will start operating the factory next year.Jeong Cheol-dong (fourth from left), LG Display chief production officer, and Le Van Thanh (fourt

The Ho-Am Foundation on Tuesday announced the six recipients of its annual prize, often referred to as the Korean equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The winners include: Kim Myung-sik, professor of Imperial College of London; Oh Joon-ho, professor of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; Larry Kwak, director of the Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center at City of Hope Hospital in Los Angeles; poet Hwang Dong-kyu; and Kim Hyun-soo and Cho Soon-sil, cochairmen of Wahaha, a charitable organizat

Sony launched three new additions to its h.ear audio accessory lineup, including the world’s smallest portable speaker h.ear go, in Seoul on Tuesday. The h.ear go, consisting of two 35-millimeter full-range speakers, weighs only 790 grams. Loaded with dual tweeters as well as dual passive radiators at the front and the back, the speaker offers high quality full sound despite its compact size. And the battery life is a whopping 12 hours.  Singer IU, a Korean ambassador for Sony, poses with the h.