Global spending on ads for desktops will soon be hit hard by the rise of smartphones, data showed Wednesday.In 2015, expenditure on desktop advertising made up 19.5 percent of total global ad spending, while the proportion of mobile advertising stood at 10.4 percent, according to research provider Zenith in France.However, the proportion of mobile advertising is expected to sharply increase to 23.3 percent by 2018, in line with the surge in smartphone users. Meanwhile, the figure for desktop adv

Among 10 major franchise coffee brands in Korea, CJ Group’s A Twosome Place posted the highest annual sales per store, while Ediya Coffee operated the most number of franchises in 2015, government data showed Tuesday. A Twosome Place recorded some 482 million won ($431,500) in average yearly sales per store last year, according to a report by the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Committee.Trailing behind, SPC‘s Cafe Pascucci shops earned 370 million won on average, and Hollys Coffee posted 350 million

The global market shares of major Korean export products like ships and display panels are dwindling, indicating that their international competitiveness is weakening, according to a report on Sunday.The market share of Korea‘s top 13 export items accounted for 5.3 percent in the global market in 2015, shedding 0.4 percentage points from 2011, the Korea International Trade Association said in a report. The key export items include semiconductors, autos, ships, steel, flat panel displays, wireles

South Korea’s life expectancy has increased at a rapid rate over the past two decades, largely on advances in medical services, a report showed last week.According to the Korea Insurance Research Institute, South Korea’s life expectancy came to 81 years as of end-2013, up 8.6 years from 72.5 years in 1990.KIRI officials attributed the large increase to medical advances, with the life expectancy of people diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases growing an average 3.9 years, according to the report

  

Nearly half of consumers here -- 47 percent -- visited online shopping websites on their smartphones in the second quarter of this year, while 44 percent accessed such websites through computers, according to an e-commerce cloud service provider Monday.However, when it comes to purchasing goods online, payments via computers made up 61 percent of total e-commerce transactions, while purchases made on smartphones stood at 27 percent, Demandware said. Worldwide e-commerce transactions are expected

Spanish fashion brand Zara’s founder is richer than Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, according to a Forbes list Thursday.Amancio Ortega, the founder and chairman of Inditex Fashion Group topped the world’s wealthiest list by Forbes. His net worth is $79.5 billion. Inditex is a Spainish multinational clothing corporate that operates multiple brands including the popular Zara.Bill Gates ranked second richest with $78.5 billion, while Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos was third with $67.6 billion.