The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. She can be reached at inhae.ji@shinhan.com -- Ed.Paid subscribers growing at a fast rateDearU Bubble, the global fan community platform operated by Dear U, is seeing rapid growth in the number of paid subscribers. The figure increased 26% QoQ from 1.7m
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com -- Ed.In the first month of the game’s global launch, Com2uS has enjoyed strong sales of Summoners War: Chronicles. The key is to be whether this initial hit has staying power in the global market.Summon
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the prosecutor’s office are investigating Kakao and Kakao Entertainment over allegations that they hindered a tender offer by market price manipulation during the SM Entertainment control dispute in February.The case began on Feb. 16 during HYBE’s tender o
Jameson, the No. 1 Irish whiskey brand, participates as the main sponsor of ‘Go Out Camp,’ the largest and most representative camping festival in Korea.Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, Go Out Camp is the first and largest camping festival in Korea, filled with entertainment for campers a
South Korean manufacturers are reducing their outputs for inventory management purposes.For example, last year, the capacity utilization of the home appliance and air solution division of LG Electronics was 103.6 in refrigerators, 84.3 percent in washing machines and 96.2 percent in air conditioners
The renowned Middle East and Africa (MEA) tech event, LG Showcase 2023, has finally returned to the region after a four-year hiatus. The two-day event was held at Al Habtoor City in Dubai and successfully showcased every new LG product being launched in the region this year to an all-time-high crowd
HYBE has given up on taking over SM Entertainment and Kakao is likely to become the owner of the company. HYBE made the official announcement on March 12.At present, HYBE owns 15.78 percent of SM. What will become of the shares is yet to be announced.Each of Kakao and HYBE made a huge investment unt
LG Electronics will make Vietnam a research and development (R&D) base for the VS Business Division for the automotive electronics business. To this end, it plans to strengthen its R&D capabilities by turning the R&D center of a local production corporation to an independent corporation. The Vietnam
Kakao announced that it would purchase 8,333,641 SM Entertainment shares, 35 percent of the total, by March 26. The public offer price is 150,000 won (US$114) per share and Kakao’s total investment is likely to be 1.25 trillion won (US$946 million). The company recently attracted an investment of 1.
Yoshida Kenichiro, chairman of Sony, recently visited Samsung Electronics in strict secrecy in return for a visit to Japan by Samsung Electronics President Kyung Kye-hyun (head of the DS Division) last year. Samsung Electronics, which has expressed its will to actively target the automotive memory s
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. HYBE to acquire 14.8% stake in SM Ent. from company founder Lee Soo-manㅡ On Feb 9, HYBE signed an agreement to buy 3,523,420 common shares of SM Ent. (14.8% of shares issued) held by the largest stakeholder,
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Raise TP by 14.3% from KRW70,000 to KRW80,000; Maintain BUY We raise our TP 14.3% from KRW70,000 to KRW80,000 and maintain BUY for Kakao. We have reflected slight downward adjustments to 2023E revenue growth
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. HYBE America acquires QC Media Holdingsㅡ HYBE America’s QCM HoldCo LLC announced the acquisition of QC Media Holdings stock.ㅡ The acquisition will be financed with the issuance of new shares worth KRW339.0bn
The authors are analysts of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com and hzl.lee@nhqv.com, respectively. -- Ed. - On Feb 7, Kakao announced its purchase of 1.23mn newly-issued shares (issuance price of W91,000 per share; total value of W111.9bn) and 1.14mn convertible b
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. SM Entertainment to issue new shares, convertible bonds to Kakao ᅳ SM Entertainment recently decided to issue 1.23mn shares worth KRW111.9bn (KRW91,000/ share) to be allotted to Kakao. The payment date is sch
LG Electronics (LG) has made the Apple TV app, Apple Music, AirPlay and HomeKit available on its webOS Hub in over 100 countries and regions.Through this move, compatible TVs now offer an easier, more versatile smart TV experience thanks to a diverse selection of content and innovative features.The
The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) used to be an island, sea, tidal flat, and reclaimed land, but now it has been transformed into an ultra-modern city with sky-high skyscrapers and a population of 410,000. After being designated as Korea's first free economic zone in 2003, a great change has
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed.In early January, YG Ent released both a teaser for the launch of a new girl group and plans for G-Dragon’s solo activities. We anticipate that the firm’s biggest weakness (ie, excessive dependence
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed.HYBE’s girl group NewJeans looks set to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart—a feat which signifies undeniable robust fandom in combination with measurable popularity in the West. At HYBE, the absence
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Securities. They can be reached at sokang@shinhan.com and inhae.ji@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Positive development toward removal of China's ban on Korean contentAmid rising expectations for the removal of China’s ban on Korean content, we pointed out i