Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò Sony Corp. announced its move to launch a video-sharing site in Japan, making the electronics and entertainment conglomerate the latest to enter the market dominated by Google Inc.'s YouTube service. Sony said it aim to introduce the service abroad as well, but said it would like to see first how well the site is received in Japan before it decides on the overseas launch schedule. Earlier in March, News Corp. and NBC Universal announced their plans to launch a free online video site this year, indicating the move of media firms to compete with popular video-sharing services.
Internet
ò The Japanese arm of Amazon.com Inc. announced the opening of a virtual shopping mall that allows third parties to set up shops on its web site. Before this, Amazon Japan KK had previously focused on selling directly to consumers online. Industry observers see the move as boosting competition with existing shopping malls, such as Rakuten Inc.'s Rakuten Ichiba, the nation's largest online mall, and Yahoo Japan Corp.'s Yahoo! Shopping portal. Amazon Japan KK had previously focused on selling directly to consumers online. The U.S. Amazon.com has launched similar services in the United States, Britain and Germany. The president of Amazon Japan said the selected companies would open stores on an invitation-only basis, a move aimed at maintaining the quality of products offered online. Even with the company not disclosing its sales in the country, the Japanese unit is estimated to have accounted for more than 10 percent of the company's global consolidated sales of US$10.7 billion in the year through December 2006.
ò Trend Micro, Incorporated , a leader in network antivirus and Internet content security software and services, announced earnings results for the first quarter 2007, including record net sales for the first quarter 2007. The company posted net sales of 23.2 billion yen (US$ 194.9 million. The company posted operating income of 6.6 billion Yen (US$55.5 million) and net income of 4.3 billion Yen (US$36.45 million) for the quarter. The company said it has continued to see strong growth, led by a 20-percent year-over- year revenue increase in North America and 14-percent in Europe, this was followed by Asia Pacific and Japan at 10-percent and 6-percent growth respectively.
ò Yahoo Japan Corp. released its forecasts of a group net profit of 14.7-16.6 million yen (US$123,000-139,000) and an operating profit of 28.1-30 million yen (US$235,000-251,000) for the April-June quarter, almost flat from the previous quarter but registering up to 26 percent year-on-year growth. Yahoo Japan said it projects revenue of 55.6-58.2 billion yen (US$465 million-487 million) for April- June, flat from the previous quarter and up 13-18 pct from a year before. A top company official explained that Yahoo Japan has presented a slightly conservative sales estimate because its revenue share in the Yahoo! BB broadband Internet service will decrease based on a review of its contract with business partner Softbank BB Corp. For the year to March 2007, Yahoo Japan reported a 23.1 percent rise in its group net profit to 57.9 million yen (US$484,500) up from the previous year.
Korea
Internet
ò Daum Communications Corp. announced that it has entered into an agreement with a unit of Sony Pictures to provide Hollywood movies free of charge through its Internet portal site next month. Under the deal, Sony Pictures Television International, the No. 2 portal operator in South Korea said it will provide the movies free of charge through its Video Pot service to be launched in May.
ò Fast Search & Transfer ASA announced that it has secured a deal by Pandora.TV, the fastest growing web site in South Korea, for the deployment of its Fast Enterprise Search Platform. Pandora.TV, which was founded in October 2004, has already attracted a unique monthly user base of 12 million, making it one of the leading Internet video sites in South Korea Fast said the agreement is based on software license, maintenance fees and other professional services. No financial details of the deal were released.
Mobile/Wireless
ò KT Freetel Co., South KoreaÆs second-largest mobile-phone operator, reported for the first quarter, a 39 percent decline in its net income to 77.1 billion won (US$83.2 million), marking the fifth consecutive drop in quarterly profits following the companyÆs spending more on handset subsidies to win customers from rival carriers. KT Freetel posted a 13 percent rise in its sales to 1.8 trillion won (US$2 billion), with the company reporting a 41 percent decline in its operating profit to 100.7 billion won (US$108.3 million).
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò According to South KoreaÆs Minister of Information and Communication and the top official of the Korean Broadcasting Commission, a bill will be put together that will enable digital TV broadcasting services to fully replace the current analogue TV system in Korea by 2012. The digital broadcasting committee said it aims to finalize the bill this year after it gets a go-signal from the National Assembly. The bill requires broadcasters to halt their analogue TV signals by December 31, 2012, and would also require all new TV-related home appliances to incorporate "digital tuners," or equipment for digital reception.
Hardware
ò According to LG Electronics, sales of the Chocolate phone, considered to be its flagship handset, have gone beyond 10 million, enabling the Chocolate phone to be part of the so-called "10-million club", which is the exclusive domain of only the top-selling mega-hit phones. Before these results, Samsung Electronics was the only South Korean phone maker with 10-million sellers. Three Samsung phones have joined the club: the Lee Kun-hee phone (T100 - named for Chairman Lee Kun-hee who helped develop it), the Benz phone (E700) and the Blue Black phone (D500). Industry observers see the success of the Chocolate as upping LG's global brand image and boosting the profitability of its handset business.
Telecommunications
ò SK telecom reported sales of 2.7 trillion won (US$3 billion) and net income of 396.3 billion won (US$426.1 million) in the first quarter this year. The company posted a 6.7 percent rise in its sales, with analyst forecasting that SK TelecomÆs marketing expenses would go up as its new number of subscribers jumped from 239,000 in the fourth quarter last year to 462,000 in the first quarter this year. SK reported its marketing costs dropping from 635.7 billion won (US$684.1 million) to 586.9 billion won (US$631.6 million) over the same period.
ò In a regulatory filing, KT Corp., South KoreaÆs largest telephone and Internet company, reported a 7.7 percent decline in its first-quarter profit to 377.6 billion won (US$406 million), compared with 409.2 billion won (US$440.3 million) a year earlier. The company said its sales went up by 1.9 percent to 3 trillion won (US$3.2 billion). KT reported also a 21 percent drop in its operating profit to 526.8 billion won (US$567 million). Earlier in January this year, KT released a forecast saying that its operating profit would go down in four years because of intensifying competition. KT said it is investing in new services such as wireless broadband and online television services to revive growth as revenue from traditional phone calls and broadband access stall.
ò According to EarthLink, Los Angeles-based mobile startup Helio, a joint investment of EarthLink and South KoreaÆs SK Telecom, continues to lose a significant amount of money. Despite this, both EarthLink and SK Telecom announced they would continue to invest in the company. HelioÆs net loss was $63.1 million over the first three months of the year, on revenue of $30.4 million. EarthLink said it forecasts HelioÆs net loss for the year to be between US$330 and US$360 million even as it expects Helio to be profitable by 2009. Earthlink said it also expects the company to gain 200,000-250,000 customers by the end of the year, with average revenue per user at US$90-$100. EarthLink also said it will invest another US$50-$100 million dollars in Helio over the remainder of the year. SK Telecom also announced it would invest further in the joint venture, but did not specify the amount. A mobile virtual network provider (MVNO), Helio offer specialized devices and premium data services like video, music and social networking.
Semiconductors
ò Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, reported positive business even as it experienced a decline in chip prices in the first quarter of the year. Hynix posted 2.4 trillion won (US$2.5 billion) in sales in the first quarter, up 60 percent from the previous year. The company said its operating profit posted a 3 percent rise to 388 billion won (US$417.5 million), with the company ascribing the results to a drop in the prices of its flagship dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and Flash memory chip products. In a related development, Hynix said it held the ground breaking for the construction of its third 300mm wafer line at its Cheongju plant, North Chungcheong Province, with the line going into operation in the third quarter of next year. Hynix Semiconductor said it will invest more than 4.5 trillion won (US$4.8 billion) through 2009 to expand and build facilities, and put in some 800 billion won in facility investment and R&D in the second quarter of 2007.
Information Technology
ò According to the Korea Exchange, Samsung Card has been given the permission to go public in July, after the countryÆs second-largest card company fulfilled the requirements for listing by passing preliminary screening procedures. Samsung Card said it plans to sell part of its shares to the investing public in June before being listed on the bourse. A South Korean firm is required to offer at least 10 percent of its outstanding stock to the public before listing. Samsung Card maintains a market capitalization of 4-5 trillion won (US$4.3 billion-5.3 billion). Five affiliates of the Samsung Group hold an 89.9 percent stake in their sister Card Company. Among them, Samsung Electronics owns a 46.9 percent stake.
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