Sue J. Hur(Sue J. Hur)
7 Websites To Know When Wanting To Do Business In Korea
  ·  2013년 04월 12일

Here is a list of great websites you should know about when you want to do business in Korea:             KOTRA (Korea Trade Association). http://english.kotra.or.kr/             KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency). http://www.kocca.kr/eng/index.html             KOVA (Korea Venture Business Association). http://venture.or.kr/kova/index.jsp             Invest Korea. http://www.investkorea.org/ikwork/iko/eng/main/index.jsp             The Korean Law…

Marketing Strategy For Your Startup
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

1. Users Are Important. Success lies with the loyalty of your users, or fans. By now you should know the importance that influencers, users, and fans have to your brand. These are the people who are driving viral interactions for you naturally. You need to nurture them, keep them loving and adoring your brand. One thing you can do is give your fans a shout out every now and them. Successful startups…

[Part I] What Is The Rationale Behind IP Disputes?
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

*This is a 3-Part article on IP disputes. The first part talks about the rationale behind IP disputes, the second talks about current legal battles between Apple and Samsung, and the third talks about cross-licensing. For the global electronics industry in the past, patent infringement was not an issue. Ramp up the design factor, appeal to customers, create a feel that was different from other – and the software, or how much…

Electric Vehicle Sharing Service To Be Launched By LG
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

Is South Korea becoming more environmentally friendly? LG CNS (LG’s IT arm) will launch an electric vehicle sharing service for residents in Seoul. The service will be operated by EverOn (an affiliate of LG CNS). Drivers will be able to rent electric vehicles through them for a minimum of one hour at an hourly rate of 6,300 won (approx. $5.50 USD) and by the end of April will have 120 electric vehicles…

Samsung Accused For Stealing OLED Technology From LG, Police Raid Pursues
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

Following reports of office raids the day before, Samsung Display denied that it had been investigated for technology espionage against its rival LG Display. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency – also the cyber crime unit of the country – conducted plant and office raids based on allegations that Samsung stole LG’s patented OLED technology through suppliers. “Samsung is the only company in the world possessing OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology. Our concern is that…

KakaoPage Launched: What About LINE and Joyn?
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

Kakao – the famous operator for the mobile messenger KakaoTalk unveiled a new mobile content platform, KakaoPage. It is seeking to bolster their revenue with a new business model. We wrote about this previously, but we thought an update was necessary now that it is officially launched! The launch can be seen as the homegrown startup’s move to solidify revenue sources. It also has an incredibly large (and growing!) subscription base. The…

What Can We Make Of Apple’s Apology?
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

I read somewhere that it was gratifying for Koreans to watch Tim Cook (the Head of Apple Inc.) ‘beg’ for China’s forgiveness. Well, I guess that can be true to a certain extent, although I personally don’t agree with this. I also read somewhere that ‘apparently being the CEO of the best company in the world means to always say that you’re sorry.’ So, obviously, there’s a lot of emotions involved. It…

Korean Market For Smartphone Face Stagnation
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

Two words: market saturation. According to Strategy Analytics, the Korean smartphone market growth for smartphones will slow down this year and possibly post a negative growth in 2016. The local market for smartphones is expected to grow 8% from a year earlier to around 33.1 million units this year. This marks a remarkable slowdown from an explosive 717% on-year growth in 2010 as well as a 75% growth last year. According to the…

Global Forum Opened By ICT
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (hereby ICT) held its first international meeting in preparation for the plenipotentiary conference of the “International Telecommunication Union” to be held at Busan next year. The ITU plenipotentiary conference is expected to bring together about 3,000 people from different governments, international organizations, and businesses in 193 nations. 100 representatives from 38 member states from the Asia-Pacific region attended the meeting to get global ICT…

Galaxy Rated As Most Valuable Band Again
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

Samsung’s “Galaxy” series was again rated as Korea’s most valuable brand in the first quarter of 2013. Brandstock, a local research firm conducted a survey and Samsung received 938 points, retaining the top spot for the second consecutive year. The supermarket chain “Emart” followed with 924 points. Samsung outstripped Nokia as the world’s biggest smartphone maker and sold more than 40 million units worldwide. Samsung controlled 30.4% of global smartphone market, surpassing…

Korean Online Community Website Attacked By Hackers – Thoughts?
  ·  2013년 04월 11일

The title just says ‘Korean community website’ because I personally do not think it is a major website. The website in question is the infamous and controversial “Ilgan Best”. Apparently, an international hacking group, Anonymous, have attacked the website. The website is humor-centered with jokes and political viewpoints. These are heavily biased, although that goes for any online community really. To give you the low-down of the event: 1. Ilgan Best came…

KakaoTalk Launches PC Version
  ·  2013년 03월 28일

KakaoTalk launched the KakaoTalk PC version (beta test) from yesterday, 26 March 2013. You would be able to log in using your KakaoTalk ID, not your phone number. Verification would be made via phone and you would log in as usual and communicate PC to PC or PC to smartphone (they’re synchronized).

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Will Set New Paradigm With Flexible, Unbreakable OLED Panels
  ·  2013년 03월 27일

The rumor has it that the Galaxy Note 3 will come with an OLED (rumored to be ‘unbreakable’ and resistant to drop shocks) HD screens. This means that Samsung will set a new paradigm between smartphone manufacturers. What kind of shift in dynamics will there be?

Will Samsung Be The First To Release Tizen Phones? On The Samsung-Google Alliance
  ·  2013년 03월 26일

Samsung has developed to become the world’s biggest handset maker since the introduction of its Galaxy S smartphone series equipped with Google’s Android mobile operating platform. In contrast with Apple’s iOS, Samsung strengthened its partnership with Google for the Android mobile operating system which boasted being open platform. However, it seems that things may change with the demand for an improved variety of mobile platforms from handset manufacturers as well as mobile carriers.

What’s Up In Korea This Week? [25. Mar]
  ·  2013년 03월 25일

beSUCCESS covers weekly news in Korea, 25 Mar.

[Update] Samsung Display Drops Injunction Against LG Display
  ·  2013년 03월 22일

Samsung Display recently dropped an injunction seeking a ban on their archenemy, LG Display. The ban was surrounded around the OLED, or organic light-emitting diode technology. Whether this is a reconciliatory move or purely for strategic purposes is up for debate.

Korea Comes Second Place In Global Innovation Index
  ·  2013년 03월 22일

South Korea is now the second most innovative country in the world, according to Bloomberg. The data compiled by financial and data provider ranked Korea behind the US – who topped the list by climbing 6 ranks. Korea moved up 1, from 3rd place to 2nd. The research indicated progress in Korea’s innovation-related sector. However, Korea’s productivity ranked relatively low at 32nd, while it made the top 10 in the seven other measures. The nation’s patent activity ranked first among the 50 countries in the ranking. Finland, which topped the ranking last year, fell to fourth place, while Japan and China ranked sixth and 29th, respectively.

SK Telecom Net Doubled In Q4 2012 – But What Does KCC Got To Do With It All?
  ·  2013년 03월 22일

SK Telecom Co.,South Korea’s top mobile operator reported a two-fold growth in its Q4 profit in 2012. They claimed that this was due to a decrease in marketing costs – meaning what? The results come as the country’s three mobile operators ― SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. ― have been slowing down their marketing drive recently amid the communications watchdog’s move to cool market competition. In December last year, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) fined the three firms a combined 11.9 billion won and imposed business suspensions for giving out excessive subsidies to lure LTE subscribers.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Puts Pressure On Apple
  ·  2013년 03월 22일

Last week, Samsung made its biggest run yet at the iPhone’s loyalists by unveiling the new Galaxy S4 – this was done at Times Square, a few blocks away from Apple’s flagship store in New York. The event had big implications because it was at Apple’s home ground. What are some of the implications for Samsung’s launch?

For The First Time In 2013, Google Surpasses Apple In Tablets
  ·  2013년 03월 21일

For the first time this year, cheaper and smaller devices gained favor with the consumers. Google surpassed Apple in tablets — Google’s software will power more tablets than Apple’s, or so Bloomberg reported. It is expected that Google’s shares will rise to 49% in 2013, while Apple’s share will dip to 46% – last year they had 51%, and Google had 46%. Tablets from Google, and products from Samsung and Amazon are gaining favor due to their prices; the prices start at around $200, which is less than half the cost of the newest iPad model. iPad Mini was released to defend their market dominance amid mounting competition.