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Samsung, Panasonic, Nokia and other leading foreign brands were on the list of Chinese subsidized household appliances for farmers.

Continue reading ‘Foreign brands win bid in household project’ »

Editor: Bruce Meng
25 Nov 2008 05:56:56 GMT

SEOUL, Nov 25 – South Korean shipbuilders expect to post combined exports of $53 billion next year, up 23 percent from 2008, an industry association said on Tuesday.

The estimate would make shipbuilders the nation’s top exporter, replacing electronics makers and contributing more than 10 percent of total exports, the Korea Shipbuilders’ Association said in a release.

South Korea is home to the world’s top three dockyards, Hyundai Heavy <009540.KS>, Samsung Heavy <010140.KS> and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering <042660.KS>.

"Our shipbuilders are financially healthy and no existing contracts have been canceled," said the association, stressing the recent bleak industrial outlook due to the U.S. financial crisis was overdone.

It said that local shipbuilders who have secured orders keeping their dockyards busy for three to four years would continue to increase their contributions to exports.

Editor: Sharon Li
19 Nov 2008 02:12:16 GMT

EASTMAN Kodak Co said it is suing South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc for infringing various digital-camera patents it obtained between 1993 and 2001.

The photography products company alleges that camera phones made by the Seoul-based electronics companies and their United States subsidiaries violate patents on its inventions related to image capture, compression and data storage, and a method for previewing motion images.

The lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court in Rochester, US, seeks unspecified monetary damages. Kodak also lodged a complaint with the International Trade Commission in Washington, a move designed to stop importation of products made with the disputed technology.

“We’ve held discussions with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue and have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement,” said Laura Quatela, Kodak’s chief intellectual property officer. “Consequently, we must take this legal action.”

The dispute centers on patents issued in 1993, 1997 and 2001, Kodak spokesman David Lanzillo said.

Taking on Kodak

Samsung issued a statement yesterday saying it “forbids infringement and unauthorized use” of the intellectual property of other companies and “plans to respond actively to this litigation,” according to Lee Eun-hee, a Samsung spokeswoman.

LG, meanwhile, flatly denied Kodak’s claim.

“The technology we’ve used in our products are totally ours and have nothing to do with Kodak,” LG spokeswoman Judy Pae said.

Kodak has licensed its imaging patents to various technology companies including Panasonic Corp, Motorola Inc, Nokia Corp, Olympus Corp and Sony Corp.

In January 2007, Kodak ended a long-standing patent dispute with Sony over digital-camera inventions dating back to 1987 and entered a cross-licensing deal giving the companies access to each other’s patents.

Kodak had alleged in a 2004 lawsuit that Sony infringed on 10 patents for digital camera patents issued from 1987 to 2003 involving technologies such as image compression and digital storage.

Kodak has amassed more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents – and almost all of today’s digital cameras rely on that technology.

Editor: Bruce Meng
18 Nov 2008 02:24:05 GMT

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 – Flash memory maker Spansion has filed two lawsuits against Samsung Electronics, accusing the electronics manufacturer of infringing its patents, Spansion said on Monday.

Spansion said it filed one lawsuit with the International Trade Commission and the second with the U.S. District Court in Delaware. A draft copy of the Delaware suit obtained by Reuters listed Samsung and four U.S. subsidiaries as the defendants.

"Spansion is seeking the exclusion from the U.S. market of well over one hundred million MP3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices containing Samsung’s infringing flash memory components," the company said in a statement.

The draft ITC document has a long list of proposed respondents, including Samsung and its U.S. subsidiaries as well as companies which use the infringing Samsung products, including Apple Inc, Asus, Kingston, Lenovo, PNY, Research in Motion, Sony and Sony-Ericsson.

Spansion said it estimated that the infringing technology accounted for more than $30 billion in Samsung’s global revenues since 2003, the company said in a statement.

Spansion requested treble damages and an order barring the infringing products from entering the United States.

Flash memory allows a device to retain data even when its power is turned off.

Editor: evewen
3 Nov 2008 08:10:32 GMT

SEOUL, Nov 3 – The South Korean won rose 2.3 percent against the dollar on Monday as the government announced a fresh $11 billion economic stimulus package, easing worries about a sharp slowdown in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

The won <KRW=> found additional support on rising optimism the central bank may cut interest rates further this week to bolster the country’s economic growth and as exporters chased the currency for settlements.

Lower interest rate views typically spark selling in the local currency, but analysts said the won tends to respond more to economic growth prospects than rate forecasts.

The South Korean unit is expected to rise further as global measures, including expected interest rate cuts, are likely to soothe concerns about the gloomy economic outlook, analysts said.

"The government’s various economic packages, along with interest rates cuts, boosted investors’ sentiment on the won," said Jeon Seung-ji, an analyst at Samsung Futures Inc.

The local currency was quoted at 1,261.6/3.0 per dollar as of 0600 GMT, compared with Friday’s domestic close <KRW=KFTC> of 1,291. The won rose to as high as 1,253.9.

The government announced an economic package of new spending and tax cuts worth at least 14 trillion won ($11 billion) to help assure a soft landing in South Korea amid a looming global recession. [ID:nSEO370901]

The move came as markets geared for more interest rate cuts in Europe and Australia in a frantic move to keep the financial crisis from plunging the world into its worst recession in decades. [ID:nSP385483]

That helped Asia shares, including South Korea stocks, rally with Seoul shares <.KS11> ending up 1.44 percent. However, foreign investors sold a net 44.3 billion won worth in stocks in the country’s main exchange.

Still, analysts said the package was not enough to protect growth much as the global economy was slowing regardless of the various measures taken by the world’s authorities and given sluggish domestic demand.

"The steps (by South Korea) are likely to prevent a sharper slowdown in the overall economy, rather than to lift growth much. We will also have to wait for the effect," said June Park, an economist at Woori Investment & Securities.

Reflecting the concerns, South Korea’s annual exports in October grew by a weaker-then-expected 10.0 percent, the slowest since September 2007 when the country’s overseas sales fell 1.1 percent from a year earlier.

The country’s housing prices fell 0.1 percent in October from September, marking the first monthly fall in nearly four years, data showed.

More investors expect the Bank of Korea to lower interest rates again later this week amid growing worries about a slowing economy and as inflation eases.

South Korean consumer prices in October rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier, the slowest annual pace of consumer inflation since April this year, other data showed.

The Bank of Korea is set to hold an interest rate setting meeting on Friday. The central bank last week cut its policy rate by a record 75 basis points in an emergency meeting.

0600 GMT 0355 GMT prev close Won <KRW=> 1,261.6/3.0 1,284.5/5.7 1,291 Yen/won <JPYKRW=R> 12.6860/86 12.9340/04 13.1580/51 KOSPI <.KS11> 1,129.08 1,136.29 1,113.06

Editor: Bruce Meng
22 Oct 2008 01:02:45 GMT

SEOUL, Oct 22 – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world’s largest maker of memory chips, said on Wednesday that it was withdrawing its $5.9 billion bid for U.S.-based flash memory card maker SanDisk Corp

Samsung said the decision was due to poor earnings prospects at SanDisk, along with an uncertain outlook and the current financial crisis. (Reporting by Rhee So-eui)

Editor: Bruce Meng
24 Oct 2008 01:08:35 GMT

SEOUL, Oct 24 – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> on Friday posted a 44 percent drop in third-quarter net profit, but operating profit was 1.02 trillion won, above a forecast of 823.5 billion.

Samsung, the world’s top maker of memory chips and liquid crystal displays (LCDs), reported July-September net profit fell to 1.22 trillion won ($870.5 million) from 2.19 trillion won a year ago and 2.14 trillion won earned in April-June.

Following are some reactions from fund managers and analysts:

SONG MYUNG-SUP, ANALYST, HI INVESTMENT & SECURITIES

“The quarterly figures appear to be pretty good, if not a positive earnings surprise. It seems its digital media business managed to produce smaller than expected losses, probably aided by a weak won. “But the fourth quarter outlook is pretty grim. Chips and display panels will likely suffer a big decline in their profit base, hit by a global economic slowdown.

“I believe the fourth quarter of this year will be a bottom for Samsung. Although the global economic outlook is still uncertain, it will be able to distance itself from its weaker rivals and see an improvement in earnings next year.

“Its shares prices are very attractive, with the price-book value ratio at a near historic-low of 1.4 times.”

- – - -

JOHN PARK, AN ANALYST AT DAISHIN SECURITIES

“Net profit in memory chips in the fourth quarter will go down, as DRAM and NAND prices fall. But Samsung will perform better in the flat screen division in 2009, since market demand is expected to go up in the second or the third quarter next year. As for the handset division, due to its aggressive marketing and improvement in distribution channel, Samsung is expected to remain strong.”

- – - -

LEE SEUNG-MO, ANALYST, SHINYOUNG SECURITIES

“The results are slightly higher than market consensus but the profit was mainly due to the won’s depreciation. It’s difficult to say that Samsung is in a good state.

“For Q4, the market consensus is fairly low. But then again, it’s hard to predict with the volatile won. DRAM prices have gone down, but that could be compensated for if the won weakens further against the dollar. The market expects about a 20 percent fall in DRAM prices next year.

“For flat screens, the industry is suffering globally. But Samsung keeps itself differentiated and it has steady buyers, so it won’t be as affected as its peers in Taiwan or so.”

- – - -

JAY KIM, SEMICONDUCTOR ANALYST, HYUNDAI SECURITIES

“Semiconductor prices have been in the doldrums and there is no recovery in sight as of yet. That is the biggest risk.

“There’s no division that stands out as increasing the operating amount of profit. Every division is likely fall again, Q-Q, year over year, whatever comparison you may use. There is some chance of the weaker Korean won helping to offset the decline of product prices. “The global economic downturn is pressing everybody to consider production or capex or whatever cuts they can make. Whatever cuts they can make, they will be forced to do it in a more severe manner than they originally expected.You can expect the cost cuts from everybody. That will put pressure on semiconductor prices as well as overall capex. “At the end of the day, it will be how soon will the production cuts will be able to catch up with what some would call the collapsing demand situation. (Reporting by Park Jung-hyun, Angela Moon and Jon Herskovitz)

Editor: Bruce Meng
24 Oct 2008 01:08:35 GMT

SEOUL, Oct 24 – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> on Friday posted a 44 percent drop in third-quarter net profit, but operating profit was 1.02 trillion won, above a forecast of 823.5 billion.

Samsung, the world’s top maker of memory chips and liquid crystal displays (LCDs), reported July-September net profit fell to 1.22 trillion won ($870.5 million) from 2.19 trillion won a year ago and 2.14 trillion won earned in April-June.

Following are some reactions from fund managers and analysts:

SONG MYUNG-SUP, ANALYST, HI INVESTMENT & SECURITIES

“The quarterly figures appear to be pretty good, if not a positive earnings surprise. It seems its digital media business managed to produce smaller than expected losses, probably aided by a weak won. “But the fourth quarter outlook is pretty grim. Chips and display panels will likely suffer a big decline in their profit base, hit by a global economic slowdown.

“I believe the fourth quarter of this year will be a bottom for Samsung. Although the global economic outlook is still uncertain, it will be able to distance itself from its weaker rivals and see an improvement in earnings next year.

“Its shares prices are very attractive, with the price-book value ratio at a near historic-low of 1.4 times.”

- – - -

JOHN PARK, AN ANALYST AT DAISHIN SECURITIES

“Net profit in memory chips in the fourth quarter will go down, as DRAM and NAND prices fall. But Samsung will perform better in the flat screen division in 2009, since market demand is expected to go up in the second or the third quarter next year. As for the handset division, due to its aggressive marketing and improvement in distribution channel, Samsung is expected to remain strong.”

- – - -

LEE SEUNG-MO, ANALYST, SHINYOUNG SECURITIES

“The results are slightly higher than market consensus but the profit was mainly due to the won’s depreciation. It’s difficult to say that Samsung is in a good state.

“For Q4, the market consensus is fairly low. But then again, it’s hard to predict with the volatile won. DRAM prices have gone down, but that could be compensated for if the won weakens further against the dollar. The market expects about a 20 percent fall in DRAM prices next year.

“For flat screens, the industry is suffering globally. But Samsung keeps itself differentiated and it has steady buyers, so it won’t be as affected as its peers in Taiwan or so.”

- – - -

JAY KIM, SEMICONDUCTOR ANALYST, HYUNDAI SECURITIES

“Semiconductor prices have been in the doldrums and there is no recovery in sight as of yet. That is the biggest risk.

“There’s no division that stands out as increasing the operating amount of profit. Every division is likely fall again, Q-Q, year over year, whatever comparison you may use. There is some chance of the weaker Korean won helping to offset the decline of product prices. “The global economic downturn is pressing everybody to consider production or capex or whatever cuts they can make. Whatever cuts they can make, they will be forced to do it in a more severe manner than they originally expected.You can expect the cost cuts from everybody. That will put pressure on semiconductor prices as well as overall capex. “At the end of the day, it will be how soon will the production cuts will be able to catch up with what some would call the collapsing demand situation. (Reporting by Park Jung-hyun, Angela Moon and Jon Herskovitz)

Editor: Bruce Meng
24 Oct 2008 02:09:05 GMT

HONG KONG, Oct 24 – Asian shares are set to rise on Friday, with investors encouraged by Wall Street’s rebound.

U.S. stocks recovered from five-year lows in a volatile session, with shares swinging in a 7 percent range, led by energy stocks after oil prices rebounded. Earnings from top pharmaceutical companies also helped spur buying.

The U.S. dollar ended lower, after climbing earlier to a fresh two-year high against the euro and a basket of currencies, following aggressive dollar selling by Brazil’s central bank, which helped stabilize emerging market currencies.

The yen climbed versus the euro and other high-yielding currencies on rising risk aversion.

Oil prices gained on expectations OPEC would agree to cut output in an emergency meeting in Vienna, with Iran suggesting that it lower production by 2 million barrels a day.

HEADLINES: > Job cuts, auto woes deepen global recession fears [nN23482353] > Microsoft outlook better than feared

[nN23379645] > Wall St rebounds on energy, drug strength [nN23474918] > WaMu CDS sellers face 43 pct insurance payouts

[nN23444673] > Greenspan “shocked” at credit system breakdown [nN23440238] > Brazil fights crisis with new steps;currency jumps[nN23468162] > Dollar climbs two-year peaks but ends lower [nN23474666] > OPEC seeks to halt price slide, cushion economy [nLN358543] > U.S. weighing troubled mortgage loan guarantees [nN23445677] > New York Times posts loss, eyes debt [nN23398087] > Calif mortgage defaults drop as new law takes hold[nN23457710] > Oil rises as OPEC weighs supply cut [nSYD377354]

KEY INDEXES pct change

Bank of New York Asia ADR index <.BKAS> 0.23

Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> 2.02

Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> -0.73

MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan <.MSCIAPJ> -5.32

Nikkei futures in Chicago <2NKc1> 2.98

Nikkei futures in Osaka <JNIc1> -2.60

ASIAN ADR ACTION:

5 most actively traded: pct change

TSMC <TSM.N><2330.TW> 0.87

BHP Billiton <BHP.N><BHP.AX> -2.82

Infosys Tech <INFY.O><INFY.BO> 1.97

Siliconware <SPIL.O><2325.TW> -3.14

Mitsubishi UFJ <MTU.N><8306.T> 4.03

Top 5 performers: pct change

Mahanagar Tel <MTE.N><MTNL.BO> 8.97

Wacoal Corp. <WACLY.O><3591.T> 8.27

China Unicom <CHU.N><0762.HK> 7.98

Novogen <NVGN.O><NRT.AX> 7.50

NTT Docomo <DCM.N><9437.T> 6.60

Bottom 5 performers: pct change

Genetic Tech <GENE.O><GTG.AX> -34.07

Makita Corp. <MKTAY.O><6586.T> -12.11

Tata Motors <TTM.N><TAMO.BO> -9.94

Yanzhou Coal <YZC.N><1171.HK> -8.27

Sony Corp. <SNE.N><6758.T> -8.21

TOP ASIA EVENTS:

For more Asian company earnings, see [ASIA/EQTY]

HONG KONG – Aluminum Corp of China Ltd <2600.HK> to report

third-quarter results.

JAPAN – Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa and Economics

Minister Kaoru Yosano post-cabinet news

conference.

STH KOREA – Samsung Eletronics Ltd <005930.KS> to announce

third-quarter results.

Editor: Crayon Zhang
22 Oct 2008 01:33:02 GMT

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest chipmaker, scrapped its $5.85 billion unsolicited bid to buy SanDisk Corp. after negotiations stalled and the value of the U.S. company declined.

Samsung withdrew its offer to buy SanDisk at $26 a share, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a statement today. Last month, Milpitas, California-based SanDisk rejected the bid for being too low.

After nearly six months of efforts to pursue a transaction with no meaningful progress, we are withdrawing our proposal to acquire SanDisk,” Lee Yoon Woo, Samsung’s chief executive officer, wrote in a letter to SanDisk Chief Executive Officer Eli Harari We squarely face the growing uncertainties in your business, which may continue to deteriorate in this difficult economic environment and further impact your standalone value.”

A purchase would have given Samsung semiconductor patents held by SanDisk and help widen its lead over Toshiba in the $15 billion market for flash-memory chips that store songs and pictures in consumer electronics. SanDisk this week reported a second consecutive quarterly loss after an industry glut drove down chip prices.

SanDisk spokesman Ryan Donovan said the company didn’t have any immediate comment.