Samsung Electronics, the world top television and memory chip maker, posted its operating profit for the second quarter of 3.75 trillion won ($3.55 billion), down 25.2 percent from the same period last year.The company also announced it recorded 39.44 trillion won in revenue ― a 4-percent increase year-on-year ― and 3.51 trillion won in net income from April-June, down 18 percent compared to last

Thousands are voicing their anger with SK Communications online after it was found that personal information of 35 million online users had been hacked this week, an event that marked the country’s worst security breach.More than 3,200 people registered to voice their opinions in an online community (http://cafe.naver.com/hacknate) designed to take collective action against the company which opera

KT Corp. announced Thursday that it is introducing a set of measures, including a fair price system, to revolutionize the mobile phone distribution process that has been untouched for 20 years.Pyo Hyun-myung, president of the mobile business group at KT, told reporters that it will publicize the price of the company’s mobile phones to its customers for them to purchase the gadgets at a fair price

Country’s top mobile carrier signs shared growth agreement with 360 partnersSK Telecom, the country’s top mobile carrier, is on the road to emphasizing mutual growth as it embarks on a number of projects with its smaller subcontractors.On Tuesday, SKT pledged mutual growth with its seven partners on establishing a nationwide network for fourth generation Long Term Evolution technology. The seven p

Eager to ride the wave of mobile revolution that has swept Korea, the chief of Adobe Systems said he aims to double the firm’s revenues here through strong partnerships with local firms.“The goal (of my visit) is to visit significant partners as well as customers because business in Korea continues to grow quite significantly,” Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer of Adobe Syste

KT Corp.’s resubmitted plan to end services for feature phone users by September is again stirring up controversy as the number of owners remains high.“I truly hope KT is aware of the fact that even a single customer was a loyal one using its services for a minimum of a few months to a number of years,” said a Seoulite who wished to only be identified by his surname Jung. The Korea Communications

The average age of new smartphone owners has risen, according to a recent report.A report entitled “Mobile divide in the smartphone era,” recently announced by KT’s DigiEco and the office of research affairs at Yonsei University, said that the portion of new smartphone users in their 40s has jumped to 24.7 percent in November last year, from 11.6 percent earlier in May.The percentage is higher tha

The conflict between terrestrial and cable television operators over broadcast rights is expected to take a new turn as chiefs of terrestrial TV stations agreed to form a negotiation panel last Friday.In a meeting organized by Choi See-joong last week, chairman of the state media regulator, representative of five major broadcast stations ― SBS, KBS, MBC, EBS and OBS ― said a panel must be formed t

SK Telecom said Thursday it established a social enterprise called Happy ICT Foundation in southwestern Seoul, together with another social enterprise affiliated with the group.The new social enterprise will support the information technology infrastructure of other social enterprises that require assistance. Affordable IT service solutions and consulting services will be provided and shared with

Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s second-largest computer memory chip maker, announced Thursday it posted 2.76 trillion won in sales and 447 billion won in operating profit for the second quarter.The figures are down from the same period last year, 16 percent in sales and 56 percent in operating profit. Net income reached 473 billion won ($449 million).“The second quarter started off with demand gr

SK Telecom said Wednesday its board members agreed to spin off its platform unit, most likely headed by platform business president Seo Jin-woo, during a board meeting earlier on Tuesday.  Seo Jin-wooCompany officials said the board members approved the spin off to boost the project expertise and strengthen the competitiveness of related projects through efficient distribution of the business reso

SK Communications said Wednesday it launched a new mobile messenger service called “NateOn talk” for Android-powered smartphones, claiming it aims to garner up to 10 million users by the year end.SK Communications, operator of the country’s popular social networking site Cyworld, said the new mobile messenger will feature short messaging and mobile voice over Internet protocol services, along with

Class action suit against U.S. giant set to be filed next month over location trackingKorea’s class action suit against Apple Inc. is taking shape as a team of lawyers from the Miraelaw law firm are gearing up to file thousands of suits together next month.So far, more than 23,000 people have taken part in the class action spearheaded by the law firm’s 36-year-old lawyer Kim Hyeong-seok.Kim was th

Company aims for global expansion of service next yearSK Telecom, the country’s top mobile carrier, has introduced an education platform for tablet PCs called “T Smart Learning,” to be rolled out next month.In partnership with Chungdahm Learning, SKT joined hands with 12 education institutes in Korea, including Daesung, YeaRimDang Publishing, Daekyo, Neungyule Education and Visang to create the co

Daum Communications, the nation’s second-largest Internet portal, has introduced a new service called “Daum store view” which enables people to view inside registered stores online.Store view shows a 360-degree panorama view of inside the store by clicking air tags on the street view. This means people can virtually experience the interior, seating, layout, menu and prices of the selected store.Th

Wal-Mart, Tesco, Ren Ren Le to be likely bidders: sourceThree well-known global companies have been taking part in the bid for E-Mart’s Chinese operations, according to a U.K.-based company specializing in information on M&As.Mergermarket, an independent mergers and acquisitions intelligence service, told The Korea Herald that Wal-Mart, Tesco and Ren Ren Le are most likely in line to take over E-M

Telecom giant forms international taskforce on global Wi-Fi roaming serviceKT Corp., the country’s biggest fixed-line service operator, is casting an eye toward global markets on the strength of its innovative technologies.Pyo Hyun-myung, president of the mobile business unit at KT, said the company is not merely looking to do business in other countries by buying shares of overseas firms, but als

Company banking on early 4G network provision along with November launch of LTE serviceKT Corp. said Monday it was aiming to meet the fast-rising demand for wireless data usage by equipping itself with fourth generation wireless broadband and Long Term Evolution technologies.The country’s biggest fixed-line service operator said it would begin servicing the nation’s capital with its 4G LTE network

The Korea Communications Commission turned down Friday KT Corp.’s proposal to end services for feature phone users by the end of this month.The state telecom regulator said it would defer giving the green light to KT’s scheme which would force what KCC cited as its remaining 810,000 2G mobile phone users to adopt 3G smartphones by the first half of this year.“Let’s put it off the discussion agenda

Subsidiary firms of Korea’s mobile carriers are expected to meet resistance in joining the market for mobile virtual network operators as the state watchdog appears wary of letting them do so.In its general meeting on Friday, the Korea Communications Commission agreed to recommend that SK telink, a subsidiary of market leader SK Telecom, hold back from entering the MVNO market.SK telink, a firm in