The author is an analyst for Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at sokang@shinhan.com -- Ed.4Q23 review: New game and profitability disappointNCsoft registered operating profit of KRW3.9bn (-91.9% YoY, -76.7% QoQ, operating margin of 0.9%) on sales of KRW437.7bn (-20.1% YoY, +3.5% QoQ) for 4Q23,
Korea’s four major oil refiners are posting a gradual drop in their exports to China. They are diversifying their export destinations to Australia, Japan, and other countries to fill the void. China used to be Korea’s top petroleum product export market.According to the Korea National Petroleum Asso
Civic groups in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, collectively known as the “POSCO Citizens’ Response Committee,” held an urgent executive committee meeting on Feb. 12 to formally oppose the nomination of former POSCO President Jang In-hwa as the CEO candidate for POSCO Holdings.The Citizens’ Commi
During the Lunar New Year holiday, Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, visited the Samsung SDI battery manufacturing facility in Malaysia, emphasizing the need for bold investments despite challenges. On Feb. 12, Samsung Electronics reported that Chairman Lee, having arrived in Malaysia o
On Feb. 7, Bloomberg reported that Tesla sold only one unit of the Model Y in Korea in January, citing Korean market research firm CarIsYou and government data.The growth of the electric vehicle market in Korea slowed as high interest rates and inflation have kept consumers from spending, while conc
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has decided to review the designation of dominant business entities, which is at the core of the Fair Competition Promotion Act (the Platform Act for short). This means that virtually, the Korean market watchdog will review the designation from scratch. Industr
Partnerships are on the uptick between North America’s No. 1 automaker General Motors (GM) and Korean companies. They started with electric vehicle batteries and are now expanding to battery materials and electronics and semiconductors.GM Chairwoman Mary Barra, who made her first visit to Korea on F
Kim Joo-sun, president of SK hynix, who is in charge of the newly established artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, announced on Feb. 7, “We will continue to ensure that no one doubts the proposition ‘AI memory equals SK hynix’ by enhancing communication and partnership to maximize the value
Hyundai Glovis has secured four of the world’s largest pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs). They are expected to help alleviate a shortage of vessels for the Korean automobile industry.Hyundai Glovis announced on Feb. 6 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea Ocean Business Cor
Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Korea Ocean Business Corporation announced on Feb. 7 that negotiations on the sale of Korean container shipping company HMM have been held with a consortium of Harim Group’s Pan Ocean and JKL as a preferred bidder, but their meeting finally ended empty-handed.“During
On Feb. 6, TikTok, the global short-form platform, revealed its content moderation methods aimed at creating a “safe platform environment.” The company disclosed that its content guidelines are enforced through a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and human content moderation tea
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has raised its global economic growth forecast for this year, but lowered its economic growth forecast for South Korea. While the organization said that global trade markets such as markets of semiconductors and information technology
The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has announced on Feb. 5 that it achieved a double-digit rate of return last year, with total assets under management increasing by over US$20 billion (26.71 trillion won).The KIC revealed on the same day that the annual rate of return for the year 2023, denomin
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has announced plans to conduct a comprehensive investigation aimed at eradicating the common practice of illegal short selling by global investment banks (IBs).In its business plan announced on Feb. 5, the FSS stated, “We will crack down on market disruptions
The South Korean battery industry, on the brink of achieving an annual export milestone of US$10 billion, has seen a slowdown in its growth momentum. This deceleration is attributed to a reduction in battery demand due to a slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) demand, along with the relocation of produ
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who visited Korea to expand the artificial intelligence semiconductor ecosystem and met with top executives of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, is now set to visit American semiconductor firm Intel.According to industry sources on Feb. 1, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced
Cho Dong-chul, the president of Korea Development Institute (KDI), publicly issued a stark warning on government debt, going so far as to state, “The country will collapse.” In particular, he cautioned that South Korea’s national debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio could skyrocket to over 250
The author is an analyst for Shinhan Securities. She can be reached at hpark@shinhan.com -- Ed.4Q23 OP falls short due to inventory adjustments at distributorsAmorepacific posted consolidated operating profit of KRW20.7bn (-64% YoY) on sales of KRW926bn (-15% YoY) for 4Q23, missing our estimate (KRW
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are planning to mass-produce GDDR7 DRAM, a next-generation DRAM for graphics cards, within the first half of this year. GDDR7 DRAM, which is mainly used in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) -- a core of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era -- is expected to continue S
China’s e-commerce giant AliExpress continues to face ongoing controversies in the domestic market, with persistent debates surrounding the sale of counterfeit products and product quality.According to industry sources on Jan. 23, the Chinese cross-border e-commerce platform AliExpress has recently