[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics’ sister firms and suppliers Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung SDI saw their shares increase 2.1 percent and 1.45 percent to 48,700 won(US$43.5) and 97,900 won, respectively, on Sept 13. The increase of the share prices on the day came after Samsung Electronics announced that Samsung heir apparent Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong had been appointed as a registered board member.The shares of Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung SDI had been sliding since Aug. 24 w

[THE INVESTOR] Kakao is under fire as its mobile messenger KakaoTalk, used by 96 percent of the entire smartphone users in Korea, went offline for around two hours right after the magnitude-5.8 earthquake on Sept. 12.The mobile messenger’s services were disrupted from 7:45 p.m. to 9:52 p.m., a minute after the earthquake and aftershocks started to rock the nation.The mobile app was later back in service, but the service disruption has upset a number of KakaoTalk users, who could not send and rec

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Display said on Sept. 13 that it will join hands with Chinese display maker China Star Optoelectronics Technology to roll out next-generation liquid-crystal displays.“Samsung Display has agreed with the Chinese partner to convert its 8.18-percent stake in the 8th-generation display production line of CSOT to that for the 11th-generation display production line,” said Cho Yong-woo, a spokesperson of the display business affiliate of Samsung Electronics.Samsung Display will

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics’ shares increased 4.71 percent to a high of 1,534,000 won (US$1385.20) in early morning trading on Sept. 13 following heir apparent Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong ’s nomination as a registered board member a day before. Related article : Samsung heir named registered boardroom memberBy Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics announced on Sept. 12 that it would sell its printer business unit to HP Inc. for US$1.05 billion. At a board meeting which approved the sell-off plan, it was decided to first divest the printer business arm on Nov. 11 and later hand over the entire shares of the firm to HPI.“With the sale of the business, Samsung will put more focus on growing flagship businesses, and HPI will be able to cement its lead as the No.1 printer maker in the global market

[THE INVESTOR]  The recall fiasco of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 smartphone is sending down the shares of the company’s sister parts makers who are also key suppliers to the Note phone. Since the first report of exploding batteries on Aug. 24 in Korea, shares of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, the camera module maker, and Samsung SDI, the supplier of the faulty batteries, tumbled almost 20 percent on Sept. 12. Shares of Samsung Electro-Mechanics closed at 47,700 won (US$42.87) on the day, down

[THE INVESTOR] Battery maker Samsung SDI, which has been pinpointed as the main culprit of the recent Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco, saw its stock price drop 6.12 percent intraday to 96,200 won (US$86.58) on Sept. 12.The stock closed at 96,500 won (-5.85%) on the day.More than 30 fire and explosion cases involving tech giant Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 have been reported since the release of the smartphone on Aug. 19 in 10 nations including South Korea and the US.As things started to get w

[THE INVESTOR] A group of Seoul-based financial technology firms have reportedly been preparing to lodge a complaint with the Korean Fair Trade Commission for Apple’s closed policy for the near field communication functions of its iPhone smartphones.The group of the firms, including Hankook NFC, Kona I, and Cashbee, and law firm Tech&Law are said to have held a meeting last week to discuss how to respond to Apple’s closed NFC policy.They are complaining that Apple has blocked other mobile servic

[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics is gearing up to fully operate a production line for 3-D NAND flash memory at its plant in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, according to news reports on Sept. 12.Samsung is said to have sealed contracts with local manufacturing firms to install processing equipment and tools for 3-D NAND flash memory chips at the tech giant’s chip production line, dubbed Line 17 Phase 2, in the city.An official from one of Samsung’s contract firms was quoted by Yonh

[THE INVESTOR] Korean chipmaker SK hynix saw its stock price hit the highest point in 52 weeks on Sept. 9 on the back of rebounding DRAM prices and the supply of its NAND memory chips to California-based Apple.The semiconductor firm’s shares reached 39,000 won (US$35) apiece on the day, the highest after the stock price hit a record low in the past 52 weeks of 25,650 won on May 18 this year.The firm’s shares closed at 38,950 won, up 0.65 percent from a day earlier, on Sept. 9.The supply of its N

[THE INVESTOR] Network equipment firm DASAN Network said on Sept. 9 that it would team up with Tonino Lamborghini to roll out smartphones and smart watches.At a media event to announce the partnership in Seoul, the Korean network equipment manufacturer said consumers would be able to get their hands on the smart devices emblazoned with the premium Italian brand as early as this year. “What the company wants to do is brand marketing business not a smart device business,” said Nam Min-woo, the chi

[THE INVESTOR] SK Innovation said on Sept. 9 that it has completed the construction of a battery production line at its plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. The new facility has increased the total battery manufacturing capacity from 0.8GWh to 1GWh, which can power around 40,000 pure electric cars, according to the Korean firm. The production facility will be fully operational after a series of test runs.  SK Innovation’s battery manufacturing complex in Seosan, South Chungcheong Provinc

[THE INVESTOR] The US Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory on Sept. 9 asking passengers to refrain from using and charging Samsung Electronics’ latest smartphone Galaxy Note 7 onboard flights. It also urged passengers not to leave the gadget in any checked baggage.“In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices onboard aircraft(s) and

[THE INVESTOR] California-based Apple has adopted Samsung Electronics’ NAND flash memory after their partnership break-up for the memory chip four years ago due to patent disputes.Apple reportedly employed Samsung’s 3-D NAND flash memory, which stacks cells vertically, and the Korean firm’s DRAM chip for the US tech firm’s new flagships iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Samsung’s NAND memory chip is said to be installed in the 256 gigabyte iPhone model -- the largest among three storage options. The i

[THE INVESTOR] Computers have already proved that they can outpace human intelligence as seen in a high-profile match between Google’s artificial intelligence AlphaGo and Go grandmaster Lee Se-dol earlier this year.Since then, and even before that, AI has been adopted for many applications such as autonomous cars and mobile gadgets equipped with voice-activated virtual assistants.Among many, health care is another segment in which AIs is likely to be widely adopted down the road, and the compute

[THE INVESTOR] Neowiz Games said on Sept. 8 that it would team up with NHN Hangame to release its first-person shooter “Black Squad” in Japan. First released in November 2014, “Black Squad” has been well received among game fans thanks mainly to its high-resolution graphics. The game has been launched in Thailand, Brazil, and Indonesia. The two Korean partners will work with game developer NS Studio to make the shooting game available for Japanese game players this year. “The FPS game has a rang

[THE INVESTOR] LG CNS will build 27-megawatt-hour energy storage systems for wind power generators in Jejudo, the largest of its kind on the island, according to the firm on Sept. 8. The affiliate of LG Group will establish 18MWh and 9MWh ESSs at the Dongbok-Bukchon wind farm and Gasiri wind farm, respectively, and manage the power storage systems for the next 15 years after the installation.“The new project to install ESSs at the wind farms will utilize the firm’s technical expertise in energy

[THE INVESTOR] Market analysts forecast that Samsung Electronics’ anticipated recall of its latest flagship Galaxy Note 7 will undermine the profits of Samsung Group’s electronic component arms, including Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, in the latter half this year.“If the recall issue of the Galaxy Note 7 is solved in a short term, the impact on the concerned component suppliers will be limited. If it continues for more than two weeks, the drop in demand for components for the Note 7

[THE INVESTOR]  LG Electronics said Aug. 30 that it will hold a showcase event for the V20 smartphone, a new flagship handset, on Sept. 7 in Seoul, the same day Apple is scheduled to launch its new iPhone and Plus variant.LG’s plan for the launch event is thought to be an apparent move to dampen the heightened excitement for the new iPhone here.  LG Electronics’ V10 smartphoneLG’ mobile communications chief Jo Jun-ho will be present at the event to deliver a keynote speech, according to the tech

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s Supreme Court on Aug. 30 ruled against a group of former Samsung workers who claimed to have contracted deadly diseases, including leukemia and cancer, while working at the tech giant’s local chip manufacturing facilities.The highest court confirmed the original verdict of the lower courts that no link between their diseases and their work at Samsung Electronics’ chip factories had been established.Hwang Min-woong, who worked as an engineer for seven years from 1997