[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics’ operating profit is forecast to exceed 8 trillion won ($6.8 billion) in the second quarter of this year, surpassing previous market estimates. “The second-quarter revenue and operating profit will come in at 51.3 trillion won and 8 trillion won, respectively, beating market estimates,” said Lee Jae-yoon, an analyst from Yuanta Securities, adding that the firm’s IT and mobile communications business unit and consumer electronics business unit would s

[THE INVESTOR] Is the hallyu fever over? Some naysayers claim the cultural phenomenon that hit the world in early 2000s is losing its gloss as it runs out of contents to showcase. Boy bands, girl groups and food like kimchi and bulgogi -- the centerpieces of the cultural wave -- are getting old for global fans.K-pop fans attend an outdoor event during the KCON convention held in Newark, New Jersey, from June 24 to June 25. CJ E&MA recent government report also showed the growth of Korean culture

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s leading media giant CJ E&M has been persistently pushing to tap into the global show business to develop a new business model.And “Kinky Boots,” a Broadway musical, is one of its latest and most successful efforts. CJ E&M, which has participated in the production of the musical since 2012, is responsible for bringing the energetic stage performance to the Asian markets including China and Korea. A scene from Kinky Boots.“As a co-producer of ‘Kinky Boots,’ CJ E&M was able t

[THE INVESTOR] US-based smartphone-maker Apple saw its presence in the global smartphone market shrink in recent months, according to a market report on June 22.Apple’s operating profit in the first three months came in at $10.8 billion, accounting for 79.9 percent of the entire operating profits earned by the global smartphone makers, according to a report released by market research firm Strategy Analytics. Apple’s iPhone 6. AppleDuring the three months, the total operating income of the world

[THE INVESTOR] The global organic light-emitting diode TV market may not be as robust as previously thought in the coming years, according to an industry report.Market research firm IHS forecast in its recent report that around 5.8 million units of OLED TVs will be shipped in 2020, down 32 percent from 8.5 million projected earlier this year.The number of OLED TVs expected to be shipped in 2019 has also decreased to 4 million, down from an estimate of 5.8 million in the previous report Models po

[THE INVESTOR] Ministers, government officials, and information technology industry leaders flocked to Cancun, Mexico to participate in the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy, a conference for the global IT sector, being held from June 21 to 23. The ministerial meeting is meaningful, in that participants will check the economic and social influence of the internet, based on the Seoul Declaration, adopted in Korea in 2008, and Internet Policymaking Principles in 2011, and discuss the

[THE INVESTOR] Desperate to find new future growth engines, Samsung Electronics is betting big on the Internet of Things, a network technology which connects objects with humans.The electronics giant has announced a package of plans to grow the business for the connected technology at the Internet of Things Policy Dialogue, an industry conference held at the head office of the US daily Washington Post in Washington on June 21.Kwon Oh-hyun, Samsung Electronics’ vice chairman delivers a speech und

[THE INVESTOR]   Samsung Electronics has acquired a Canada-based digital advertising start-up, AdGear, the two companies confirmed on June 21.　The Canadian firm said in a notice on its website that it has “joined Samsung Electronics.”A captured image of AdGear’s webpage.Detailed terms of the deal were not revealed. Samsung said the acquisition was aimed at beefing up its capability focused on the smart TV advertising. 　Established in 2010, AdGear has expertise in managing data and transmitting t

[THE INVESTOR] An advocacy group has raised its voice against the Ministry of the Interior, which allegedly forced tech giant Samsung Electronics to preinstall its app, dubbed Government 3.0, on the upcoming Galaxy Note model.The Green Consumer Network in Korea claimed the preinstallation of the app would cause inconvenience for consumers and reverse discrimination against the domestic smartphone-maker.“The ministry said it had consulted with Samsung to preinstall the app on the smartphone, but

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics’ fitness tracker Samsung Gear Fit 2 made an impressive debut as the first batch of the smart band up for preorders ran out in just two minutes on June 21.Samsung started to receive orders through its online store from 10 a.m. and 222 units of the wearable gadget up for sale were quickly sold out in just 2 minutes. Samsung Gear Fit 2. Samsung ElectronicsThe tech titan will start selling the Gear Fit 2 online and at retail store Samsung Digital Plaza across the n

[THE INVESTOR] Chinese TV makers armed with price competitiveness are a growing threat to Korean electronics giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.Chinese electronics firms, such as LeTV, which is also a streaming services firm, has recently rolled out 65-inch 4K TVs with a price tag of around $900 in the Chinese market, according to IHS, a market research firm.A model poses with Samsung Electronics’ super ultra-high definition TV. (Samsung Electronics)They are around three times cheaper

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has announced that it would shift its focus to NAND flash memory from DRAM as the global DRAM market is reeling from record low prices.“The tech giant told investors (at the firm’s investor relations session) that it would scale down the investment in its DRAM business compared to last year,” reported online news outlet the Financial News, quoting a market analyst who participated in the meeting as saying.The tech giant held IR sessions in New York City and Bos

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics reportedly lost a bid for supplying mobile application processors for Apple’s iPhone 8, which is thought to be the US-based company’s flagship model for 2017.“The mobile chip for the iPhone 8 will be supplied exclusively by Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC,” said Korean online newswire News1, quoting an anonymous industry source. TSMC is the chip supplier for the iPhone 7, which is expected to be released this year. The source said Apple saw Samsung’s A9 chips, supplie

[THE INVESTOR] A top Samsung Electronics executive said that the Internet of Things market will serve as a driving force behind the company’s semiconductor business.Participating in an investor relations conference held at Conrad Seoul on June 20, Samsung’s chief technology officer So byung-se said “IoT will become a locomotive of the semiconductor business.”“Developers should tailor system-on-chips made by other chipmakers on their own, but the ARTIK platform gets rid of such nuisance,” the CTO

[THE INVESTOR] Smartphone-maker Pantech will release a new model on June 30, its first after being acquired by a consortium led by telecom equipment firm Solid in December last year.The firm, once the third largest in Korea after Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, was on the brink of bankruptcy due to decreasing sales and financial constraints in 2015.After it was acquired by the consortium, the firm has focused on rolling out connected devices for automotive, defense and home automation in