Samsung’s over-reliance on mobile phone sales brings weak profits again this quarter. Profits fell 4.3% due to sluggish handset sales and a poor domestic launch for their S5 (and a gloomy forecast for the next quarter). Samsung gets 70% of their revenue from phone sales. This represents over 75% of the Samsung group’s profits.
Korean copycat business Coupang (think Groupon, but started by a Korean studying in the US) and other social commerce sites are under investigation for selling fake goods and posting misleading product information. Last year, Coupang was also held accountable for misleading buyers to believe that fake leather goods were real ones.
Serviced by 7 airlines and with flights nearly every 5 minutes, Seoul to Jeju Island is the most travelled route in the world.
The Dongdaemun Design Park (DDP) opened to the public for the first time yesterday. Admission to most exhibitions is free right now but will change to 8,000Won at the end of March. The spaceship-like structure was built for $451mil, was design by renowned architect Zaha Hadid, and was funded by the Seoul city government. The 85,000 sq. meter structure, located in Jongno Seoul, is home to an art hall, museums, a design lab, and a multipurpose culture center. While the area remains largely open until 5AM with it’s boutique shopping, nightlife, and street food, the DDP will remain open 24 hours. Official site.
동대문 – dong-dae-mun – East Large Gate
Here’s a graphic from the Korea Times detailing the Avengers 2 (Avengers: Age of Ultron) shooting schedule for Seoul. Filming will run March 30 to April 14 and Disney is tight lipped on which stars might be present. As part of a deal with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism the movie studio will be refunded up to 30% of their spending costs. Filming will also take place in Johannesburg, Aosta Valley, London, and Burbank, CA. Continue reading
Here’s an infographic summarizing the impact of the new Korea-Canada Free Trade Agreement. For those living in Korea, look forward to cheaper beef prices as Canada joins the listing of beef importers: US, New Zealand, and Australia. Korea agrees to cut import tariffs on Canadian beef by 40% over the next 15 years. Interestingly, Canada was banned from exporting beef to Korea for 9 years following a mad cow outbreak. The Korea Times reports that Korea is the first Asian country to make an FTA with Canada.
The local news outlets are having a field day covering the Samsung (out-of-warranty) “battery swelling” issue today. A quick search of 삼성 갤럭시 노트 배터리 (Samsung Galaxy Note battery) yields a ton of news stories. This is the third Samsung phone affected by battery swelling. Today, the Korean Consumer Agency announced that Samsung will replace Galaxy Note mobile phone batteries, free of charge. While the Note phones were made in 2011 and are now out of warranty, there’s no reason for a battery to fail so quickly- unless it has a quality defect. (Note: I still have a working iPad 1 and iPhone 3GS with good battery life more than four years after they launched.) They’ve pushed Samsung into admitting that the swelling of lithium-ion batteries in phones is not normal. Samsung Service had previously deceived people into think that this was a “natural phenomenon” of normal lithium-ion phone batteries nearing the end of their life cycle. They can’t use that excuse anymore. Continue reading