The Samsung Note 4 phone apparently shipped to market too early in order to compete with the successful iPhone 6 launch. Samsung has already acknowledged that there are major defects in the phone body but has yet to provide a resolution. The jokes are trending on Twitter under #gapgate.
The Korea Times posted an article highlighting several unique cafes in Seoul that are worth a visit. A Pet Cafe, a Fish Pedicure Cafe, and a Saju Cafe made the short list.
According to the Korea Times, Korea is expected to surpass Thailand as the top international destination for Chinese tourists in 2014. 5.6 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel to Korea within 2014. The sharp rise is due to an increase in airline routes/planes to Korea as well the popular 30-day visa-waiver program for Chinese citizens bound for Jeju Island.
Samsung profits continue to fall for the third straight quarter. Not since the third quarter of 2012 have profits been so low. The profits were weaker than expected and blamed on poor phone and tablet sales, over-shipments of lackluster smartphones, the recently-strong Korean Won, and strong competition from the iPhone and numerous Chinese smartphone makers. Samsung faces an uphill battle to grow their phone and tablet business as loyalty to the brand falls. Users blame lackluster new phone features, poor battery life, faulty batteries, unstable Samsung-branded add-on apps, and other quality issues. As Apple prepares large-screen scratch resistant iPhones, Samsung needs to look for new growth engines as analysts predict sales to continue to lag.
If you’ve been to Seoul, it’s not surprise that Seoul has a record 284 Starbucks coffee shops.
