[THE INVESTOR] Korean chipmakers, including the top two Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, are expected to pour a combined 37.8 trillion won (US$33 billion) into wafer fabrication equipment or WFE in the next three years. Starting US$10.02 billion this year, the companies will invest more than US$10 billion every year in the coming years, according to a recent research jointly conducted by market research firm Gartner and chip equipment giant Applied Materials. Samsung’s wafer fabrication facilit

[THE INVESTOR] Internet giant Kakao on July 1 announced the official launch of its renamed game unit KakaoGames following its shareholders’ approval the day before. The company said the branding renewal comes in order to elevate its global awareness and improve operational efficiency overall. The company aims, among other things, to expand its presence in the global market. Unlike its cross-town rival Naver that earns more than 35 percent of sales from overseas markets, Kakao has almost no prese

[THE INVESTOR] Korea has the highest average Internet connection speed in the world, according to a report by Akamai Technologies, a content delivery network provider headquartered in the US. The organization’s quarterly report, “State of the Internet,” showed that in the first quarter of the year Korea has four times faster average Internet speed at 29 Mbps, an 8.6 percent increase over the previous quarter. It was followed by Norway, Sweden, Hong Kong and Switzerland. The world average was 6.3

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics business is forecast to see its operating profit for the April-June period surpass 1 trillion won ($870 million). Market analysts also expect Samsung to show a strong business performance in the latter half this year, enjoying the weak Korean won due to Britain’s vote to exit the EU. The CE business will likely see its operating income for the second quarter cross 1 trillion won for the first time since 2009, according to invest

[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics is expected to post more than 10 percent operating profit ratio in its appliance business in the second quarter on upbeat sales of more lucrative high-end products, analyst estimates found on July 1. The home appliance and air solutions division enjoyed record sales and operating profit to sales ratio in the first quarter. Especially the operating profit ratio soared to 8 percent in the April-June period and the figure is expected to exceed 10 percent in the second

 [THE INVESTOR] Samsung Group’s electronic components businesses, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung SDI, are forecast to show disappointing earnings results for the April-June period, according to market analysts.Samsung Electro-Mechanics will post 21.7 billion won ($18.9 million) in operating income, down 49.4 percent from the previous quarter, with its revenue coming in at 1.6 trillion won, up 2.6 percent from the first quarter, according to a recent investment report released b

[THE INVESTOR] Yozma Group chairman Yigal Erlich on June 30 hinted at new funding worth up to US$100 million in Korea’s biotech venture firms. Yozma Group chairman Yigal Erlich　The head of the leading venture capitalist based in Israel was visiting Seoul to attend a conference among bioscience experts and industry officials. Touting Korea’s advanced medical techniques, he showed expectations about the growth potential of the nation’s biotech industry. During his visit, Yozma Group also signed a

[THE INVESTOR] Qualcomm Korea held the 14th Qualcomm IT Tour for engineering students in Korea and invited them to its American headquarters as part of it efforts to update them on cutting-edge wireless technologies, the company said on June 30. A total of 25 Korean engineering students had a chance to meet with engineers and management from the firm and learn about the company’s mobile technologies.They also had a presentation in the presence of Derek Aberle, president of the company, and discu