The public takeover bid for Hankook & Company by MBK Partners, in collaboration with Advisor Cho Hyun-sik of Hankook & Company, has fallen through.On Dec. 26, Ventura, the special purpose company (SPC) of MBK Partners Special Situation Fund (SS) No. 2, announced, “The public takeover of Hankook & Co
The rivalry in the advanced 2-nanometer (nm) semiconductor process among leading chipmakers from South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States is expected to intensify next year.According to industry reports on Dec. 25, global foundry leaders – Taiwan’s TSMC (first in the industry), South Korea’s Samsu
With its wit and freshness, Premium vodka ABSOLUT, which represents Pernod Ricard Korea Co. Ltd (Pernod Ricard Korea), has collaborated with the globally renowned design studio Sticky Monster Lab and Olly Alexander-an active composer, an actor, and the front man of the British Band Years&Years-and,
Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Hanwha Ocean, two of the three major Korean shipbuilders along with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), are expected to fail to meet their annual order targets set earlier this year by the end of December.According to sources in the shipbuilding in
On the morning of Dec. 23 a fire broke out at POSCO’s Pohang Works, temporarily halting the operation of three blast furnaces. The government and POSCO said that the restart of the furnaces after putting out the fire would not cause any major disruption to the production and supply of products. Howe
In the latter half of this year from July to November, the top-ranked app in domestic shopping categories for downloads, according to data from IGAworks, is the Chinese app Temu. Temu’s monthly active users (MAU) have surged sevenfold in just three months. The market share of AliExpress, the oversea
Chinese online retail giant AliExpress has emerged as the fastest-growing app in South Korea this year. According to WiseApp, an app and retail analytics service, AliExpress is the app that has had the most users in South Korea over the past year. AliExpress had only 3.36 million users in January, b
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is reportedly seeking a combined fine of 20 billion won (US$15.36 million) for BNP Paribas and HSBC, both of which have engaged in naked short selling. The FSS aims to impose an individual fine of 10 billion won on each of the financial institutions.Bloomberg
The South Korean government is considering applying antitrust regulations following abrupt price hikes by major content platforms such as YouTube and Netflix.A senior ruling party official stated in a media interview on Dec. 21, “A 40% hike in consumer prices at once is a kind of monopolistic abuse.
In the premium TV product line, Samsung Electronics’ market share in the Mini Light Emitting Diode (LED) TV market has significantly dropped this year. While Samsung, which had an overwhelming market share, experienced a decrease in shipments, Chinese companies like Hisense and TCL increased their s
Recent reports indicate that the rear windows of Tesla’s mid-sized SUV, the “Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD),” are shattering. It is presumed that extreme cold weather, with perceived temperatures reaching as low as -26 degrees Celsius, is influencing this phenomenon.On Dec. 20, multiple community pl
South Korea’s growing imports of secondary battery materials and intermediate goods from China were blamed for South Korea’s trade balance with China which is expected to post its first deficit in 31 years.According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Dec. 20, South Korea’s trade balance with China posted
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jack.baek@nhqv.com -- Ed.At HiDeep, pilot sales of touch ICs for mobile devices began in 2Q23, followed by the start of pilot sales for stylus solutions for mobile devices in 3Q23. We expect 1H24 to see the start of touch
The author is an analyst for Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at sanghoonpure.cho@shinhan.com -- Ed.Weak top line results in first profit drop in 10 monthsOrion reported weak sales growth in November (Korea +10.9%, China -13.5%, Vietnam -5.3%, Russia -26% YoY) with effects of the Lunar New Year
Germany’s abrupt suspension of subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) sold in the country is puzzling South Korea’s auto industry, which exports electric vehicles to the region. This along with France’s plan to reorganize its EV subsidies to measure carbon emissions and provide differential subsidies
Hyundai Motor plans to sell its Russian plant, which has been idle for nearly two years, to a local company for a mere 140,000 won (US$107.12). However, the contract includes a “buyback” clause, allowing Hyundai to repurchase the facility within the next two years, in anticipation of the possibility
LG Display has accelerated its efforts to secure its global leadership in the vehicle display market, a key area of future growth, by leveraging its superior technology. According to display industry sources on Dec. 19, LG Display entered the vehicle display market in 2005 by producing Central Infor
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at ys.jung@nhqv.com -- Ed.Moving ahead, we expect to see further structural strengthening in CJ Logistics’ profitability, powered by a combination of higher parcel delivery volume, a widening sales portion for small parcels,
Vietnam-based airlines are emerging as dark horses, overtaking U.S. and Chinese carriers as they increase flights between major cities in Vietnam and South Korea while launching an air ticket price war.Vietnam’s largest private carrier Vietjet Air and national carrier Vietnam Airlines ranked first a
A South Korean company’s overseas gas field project, which had been suspended for nearly a year due to local opposition, has dramatically resumed thanks to intergovernmental cooperation.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority approved an environmental license for SK E&S to drill an offshore gas fie