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Tag: entertainment

  • Nintendo launches flagship store in Tokyo

    Nintendo launches flagship store in Tokyo

    Nintendo is opening a Tokyo flagship store, marking the iconic Japanese company’s first-ever domestic retail outlet. During Nintendo’s latest Corporate Management Briefing, the president of the Nintendo, Shuntaro Furukawa, announced the game company would be opening a store in the Japanese capital in 2019.

    The executive said that plans are set for Nintendo Toyko to be located in the tentatively named ‘Parco’, which is yet to be opened and will bow in the Shibuya district. The Nintendo store in Japan will have its own floor in a new department store and is targeted at teens and commuters.

    “We are hoping [the store] will be a new point of contact between consumers and Nintendo that a wide range of people, regardless of age, gender, or experience with games can enjoy,” explained Furukawa.

    The new store also hopes to attract shoppers to Nintendo Switch, which is struggling to draw a wider swath of users, according to Bloomberg. Last month, Nintendo cut its shipments forecast for the console, which can be used at home or on the go.

    “In addition to selling products such as video game systems, software and character-based merchandise, we plan to host events and offer opportunities to play games, and are preparing to make this shop a new base for communicating Nintendo information in Japan. We will announce further details on each of these initiatives at a later date.”

    Looking forward, Nintendo is also planning to open exhibits at Universal theme parks in Osaka, Orlando and Hollywood.

    Additionally, the company is looking to participate in more e-sports tournaments, where gamers get together and compete in stadiums

    Nintendo opened its first store in New York as Pokemon shop in 2005 in the city’s Rockefeller Centre, and has since rebranded as Nintendo New York.

    Nintendo Tokyo is scheduled to open in the fall of 2019.

  • The exhibition of Polaroid at National Museum of Singapore

    The exhibition of Polaroid at National Museum of Singapore

    Singapore mentions “Polaroid” and most people will think of the retro, palm-sized instant prints often stuck on refrigerators or posted in scrapbooks. Not many will associate it with artwork – much less the sort of art you might hang in a gallery. The exhibition of Polaroid in National Museum of Singapore features 10 large Polaroids which are each 20 by 24 inches (50cm by 60cm) – bigger than a sheet of A2-sized paper – and is on display at the National Museum of Singapore as part of an exhibition on the history of Polaroid photography and art using Polaroid, “In An Instant: Polaroid At The Intersection Of Art And Technology”.

    Also on display are about 160 other photographic artworks – in various sizes and styles – by artists such as Andy Warhol, Ansel Adams, David Hockney and others.

    This is the Asian debut of the exhibition, which has traveled in the United States and Europe and will return to North America next year.

    “In An Instant”, which is on until the end of March, starts off by charting the history of the Polaroid camera, the brainchild of American scientist Edwin H. Land.

    The exhibition also features a short film demonstrating the effect of polarised lenses. All the museumgoer can see is a white glare until he puts on a pair of Polaroid sunglasses.

    The Polaroid artefacts and artworks are on loan from the MIT Museum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the WestLicht centre for photography in Vienna, The Polaroid Collection and various artists, as part of a collaboration between the National Museum of Singapore and the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography.

    The Singapore edition of the exhibition ends with a series of video projections of “influencers” talking about what “in an instant” means to them.

    Among them are comedy site SGAG’s co-founder Karl Mak, YouTube star Jianhao Tan, YouTuber and comedienne Preetipls, socialite Jamie Chua, Instagram twins Yafiq and Yais Yusman, and Angie and David Sim from the lifestyle and travel blog Life’s Tiny Miracles.

    Visitors who want to take home a memento can head to the photo-booth and selfie station outside the exhibition space.

    The exhibition has also a ‘Silent Cinema’ section where visitors can watch a movie wearing Polaroid sunglasses.

  • Netflix streams its way into Korean hearts

    Netflix streams its way into Korean hearts

    Netflix viewership is growing faster than ever in Korea. According to mobile app tracker WiseApp on Tuesday, 1.27 million Android users in Korea used the Netflix app in December last year. That’s nearly four times, or 274 percent, more than the beginning of the year, when just 340,000 Android users had used the app in January 2018. Nearly half, or 41 percent, of Netflix users were in their 20s.

    WiseApp estimated that there are around 900,000 paying Netflix users across all devices in Korea who spend a monthly 11.7 billion won ($10.5 million) combined on the platform.

    Netflix users are allowed to share their account with family members and friends, so the number of paying customers is always lower than the number of users. Netflix also offers a one-month free trial, giving first-time users unlimited access to the platform for a limited time.

    Onlookers have suggested a variety of possible explanations for Netflix’s growing success in Korea and the rest of the world.

    Park Yong-hu, an IT expert who has previously worked for Kakao and Baedal Minjok operator Woowa Brothers, believes the absence of advertisements allows Netflix original content creators greater freedom to come up with fresh and innovative material.

    “Platforms that host advertisements often run into the problem of whether to prioritize users or advertisers first,” said Park. “For companies like Netflix, however, where the client and user are the same, they have the advantage of being able to clarify their vision.”

    Netflix confirmed that it doesn’t try to limit creators.

    “Netflix never requests creators change their stories,” added a spokesperson from Netflix in Korea. “Creators are guaranteed that they will create the content they want and Netflix just helps to realize their dream.”

    Convenience is another feature winning over users.

    From smart TVs to tablets, there are over 1,500 different types of smart devices that Netflix currently supports. The 14,500 won premium subscription option in Korea allows up to four people to use the platform at the same time, even in 4K ultra-high definition.

    With Netflix’s Smart Downloads, users don’t even have to bother downloading shows themselves. The smart feature automatically deletes an episode a user has finished watching and downloads the next one.

    Netflix’s recommendation system also attempts to offer users enough content that fits their preference so that they keep using the service.

    “Netflix does not gather user data by categorizing them into groups like ‘a male bachelor in his thirties living in Seoul,’ but we instead [suggest shows] by looking at the types of content that they have watched and the reviews they have left,” said a Netflix spokesperson.

    Netflix’s vast potential was most recently demonstrated by the tremendous success of its original film “Bird Box” starring Sandra Bullock. In a move untypical for the company, Netflix took to Twitter to reveal that 45 million users worldwide had streamed the post-apocalyptic hit within its first week of release last month.

    This year, the streaming platform is ambitiously trying to make its debut in the Korean drama scene. It has already confirmed the launch of several original Korean drama series with genres ranging from teen-romance to zombie-thriller, and started strong with the release of “Kingdom” last week, starring famous actors including Bae Doo-na of “Cloud Atlas.”

    Some believe it will be just a matter of time before Netflix becomes a force to be reckoned with in the domestic drama industry.

    “The threat Netflix is posing to Hollywood means that even production and distribution of video content cannot escape the currents of the fourth industrial revolution,” said Park.

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  • Naver to open up TV service, take on YouTube

    Naver to open up TV service, take on YouTube

    Local IT giant Naver announced plans Thursday to make its Naver TV service an open platform where anybody can freely upload videos, pitting it in direct competition with YouTube. The company said it would apply the change during this year’s first half. Originally, only people with more than 300 subscribers on other video platforms were permitted to create a channel on Naver TV.

    Unlike YouTube, considered the playground of individual creators, most traffic at Naver TV is to come from short videos from TV shows uploaded by broadcasting or cable channels, like TvN or JTBC. Lowering the bar is intended to draw in the legions of individual creators who have begun to emerge in Korea over the last two years.

    “Naver TV was originally focused on offering video from TV for users that flow in via our search engine,” said a company spokesperson.

    “We gradually had small- or mid-sized studios upload web dramas or famous beauty creators joining our platform and by that experience we learned the patterns of how original content is consumed. Now we want to make it accessible to more creators.”

    Last week, Naver lowered the bar to 100 subscribers and simplified the process required to set up a channel, as a first step to earn feedback and find areas that need improvement before fully opening the door to everyone.

    As a strategy to boost users, Naver is devising a compensation system to reward creators according to their performance. Channels with more than 300 subscribers and whose videos were played for more than 300 hours will be offered the choice to roll advertisements.

    Naver CEO Han Seong-sook publicly stressed the importance of online videos multiple times last year, expressing a will to develop that sector.

    “The internet market is rapidly restructuring to be centered on videos – Naver will also invest more in line with this change,” she said in a conference call in July, pointing out how the younger generation no longer spends time on portal sites or social networks, but on video platforms.

    Naver’s traditional strengths are not in video but other services, such as its search engine, blogs and online communities. Regardless, the company has invested in its video services. Apart from Naver TV, its other main video service is V LIVE – a platform via which K-pop idols can host live streamed videos with fans. Around 70 to 80 percent of users at V LIVE are based overseas.

    “Instead of running a single platform like YouTube, our direction at the moment is to divide platforms according to usage and optimize the service that fits their respective purposes – V LIVE for fans and Naver TV for general creators,” said the Naver spokesman.

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  • Korean Netflix shows target a global audience

    Korean Netflix shows target a global audience

    Ahead of the launch of Netflix’s first original Korean drama series today, executives from the streaming giant expressed confidence in the global popularity of Korean content at a press briefing in Seoul, Thursday. Kim Min-young, the director of content at Netflix in Korea, said that she expected to win over fans with the company’s first-ever original Korean drama series “Kingdom,” a highly-anticipated zombie series that launches on the streaming platform.

    “‘Kingdom’ will launch in 190 countries in 27 languages at the same time, with dubbing provided in 12 different languages,” Kim said.

    “We expect many users will want to watch it, as it can appeal to both people who like zombie thrillers or just Korean content … I believe in our creators and [the popularity] of Korean media, which is also the reason why Netflix launched Korea’s own content team in the country last year.”

    Before last May, the team that produced and licensed content to Netflix for the Korean market worked from Singapore at the company’s Asia-Pacific headquarters. Following the relocation, the Korean content team has been pursuing licensing and production activities more actively, working with domestic content producers like JTBC and Studio Dragon.

    Regarding original production in Korea, Kim said she benchmarks successful foreign Netflix original dramas like Spanish title “Elite” and Turkey’s “The Protector” that became huge hits with users across the world.

    “Our ultimate goal is to present entertainment to consumers, and from our experience, we found it necessary to give creators the freedom to tell the story they want to share,” said Kim.

    “As you can see with ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch,’ we will help producers to not be hindered from doing what they want because of technological limits.”

    “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” is a choose-your-own-adventure film by Netflix that allows users to choose one of many action courses for the characters throughout the movie to determine how the plot progresses. Kim hinted that the impressive technological feats as shown via the interactive video could also be made possible in Netflix’s Korean programs.

    “We were also satisfied with the performance of our original entertainment program ‘Busted!,’ as reflected by our decision to produce a second season,” she said.

    The Netflix team also addressed concerns that Netflix provided limited service offerings and imposed unfair deals on its Korean partners.

    “Although we can’t provide all content available out there, we conduct analyses to discover what content users want,” Kim said. “But we have contents like ‘Friends,’ ‘Walking Dead’ and ‘Kim’s Convenience’ which users can’t access elsewhere.”

    In response to a rumored nine-to-one profit division between Netflix and Korean distributors like IPTV operator LG U+, Nigel Baptiste, director of partner engagement at Netflix, said that he could not “go into the specifics of what the deals are with our partners,” but the goal was to help “everyone in the ecosystem benefit.”

    The team did reassure users that subscription fees will not rise anytime soon in Korea.

    “We did increase prices in the U.S. … but we don’t have plans to do so right now [in Korea],” said the vice president of Asia-Pacific communications, Jessica Lee.

    Netflix is planning to release several new series in Korea this year – the first seasons of “Love Alarm,” “My First First Love,” “School Nurse Ahn Eun Young” and the second season of “Busted!”

    Mobile app research company WiseApp reported that some 900,000 Koreans used the Netflix mobile app on Android phones alone last September.

  • Xiqu Centre finally opens in Hong Kong

    Xiqu Centre finally opens in Hong Kong

    Hong Kong’s new performing arts venue dedicated to Xiqu (Chinese Opera), has just opened. Located on the Eastern edge of the West Kowloon Cultural District, at the junction of Canton Road and Austin Road, the Xiqu Centre is directly accessible from the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and Austin MTR station, and easy to reach by public transport from all parts of Hong Kong.

    The building’s striking design, created by Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects) and Ronald Lu & Partners, was inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns and blends traditional and contemporary elements to reflect the evolving nature of the art form.

    Stepping through the main entrance, shaped to resemble parted stage curtains, visitors are led directly into a lively atrium with a raised podium and space for presenting the rich and ancient culture of Chinese traditional theatre.

    The eight-storey building has a total area of 28,164 sq m and houses a Grand Theatre, accommodating 1,073 seats, a Tea House Theatre, with a capacity of up to 200 seats, eight professional studios and a seminar hall, all specially designed for different types of xiqu-related functions and activities.

    The design details of each of the facilities have also been created in response to the practical requirements and aesthetic features of the art form. A unique feature of the venue is the location of the Grand Theatre at the top of the building, which allows for a large open atrium below with space for exhibitions, stalls, and xiqu demonstrations and workshops.

    Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngo, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, gave a speech at the opening ceremony of Xiqu Centre. “The launch of Xiqu Centre is not only a significant international cultural event, but Hong Kong also takes it as a great honor and we all are very proud of it.”

    In fact, Chinese opera has been inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists for a decade, Carrie Lam hopes the Xiqu Centres would help promote Hong Kong as an international arts hub and consolidate the city’s position in the development of Cantonese opera.

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  • Northern Vietnam casino reports first profit in three years

    Northern Vietnam casino reports first profit in three years

    Royal Casino, the largest in the northern Quang Ninh Province, last year reported a profit for the first time in three years. Royal International Corporation, its operator, said revenues grew by 48 percent from the previous year to VND288 billion ($12.39 million), and profit after tax to VND17 billion ($731,263) in 2018. This is the company’s first profit since 2015.

    The owner of the company is Khai Tiep International Investment Limited, registered in the Cayman Islands.

    The casino accounted for VND178 billion ($7.66 million) with the rest coming from hotel, villas and hospitality-related services.

    The company’s management said in a financial report that the growth in the casino’s revenues was due to the sharp increase in the number of customers after an expressway connecting Quang Ninh’s Ha Long town  with northern Hai Phong City was built last September.

    Linking up with the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway, it cuts the travel time from the capital to Ha Long by half to just 90 minutes.

    The company also saved VND16 billion ($688,192) last year in sales and management costs.

    At the end of last year the casino had 1,346 employees, 80 fewer than at the beginning of the year.

    On Saturday Corona Resort and Casino in the southern Phu Quoc Island became the first casino in Vietnam to allow Vietnamese to gamble.

    The government has allowed a three-year trial period.

    Vietnamese who gamble here must be over 21, earn a minimum of VND10 million ($430) a month and have no criminal record or objections from family.

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  • Vietnam’s first casino for locals opens on three-year trial basis

    Vietnam’s first casino for locals opens on three-year trial basis

    The first casino in Vietnam that allows locals to gamble has opened in Phu Quoc Island off the country’s southern coast. The Corona Resort and Casino is part of an ecotourism and amusement complex built by Phu Quoc Tourism Investment and Development JSC at a cost of VND50 trillion ($2.15 billion). The casino will remain open 24 hours a day during a three-year pilot, and Vietnamese who want to gamble must be over 21, earn a minimum of VND10 million ($430) a month and have no criminal record or objections from family.

    The entry fee is VND1 million ($43) for 24 hours or VND25 million ($1,000) a month (with a maximum play time of 720 hours). Three months ago the government approved the three-year trial period allowing Vietnamese to enter the casino.

    Vietnam, which treats gambling as a “social evil”, has hitherto prohibited locals from gambling in the seven casinos around the country. Only foreign passport holders can enter them.

    Vietnam’s per capita income was around $2,500 last year.

    One of Vietnam’s biggest real estate developers Sungroup is currently building another casino in Van Don in northern Quang Ninh Province, home of popular Ha Long Bay.

    Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island, is one of the top holiday destinations in the country.

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  • JD.com steps into entertainment industry

    JD.com steps into entertainment industry

    JD.com, China’s largest retailer, has joined forces with Paramount Pictures and global play and entertainment company Hasbro to celebrate the Chinese release of the new TRANSFORMERS movie BUMBLEBEE. On the run in the year 1987, BUMBLEBEE finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers BUMBLEBEE, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

    JD first partnered with Hasbro and the TRANSFORMERS franchise in 2017, releasing a MISSION RED mini short that showed Optimus Prime and Red Knight – a special JD exclusive TRANSFORMERS character – fighting to protect the energon fuel source. This year’s celebration will be accompanied by a series of three mini shorts featuring Panasonic and Chinese menswear brand HLA in which Red Knight protects energon.

    JD and Hasbro are also bringing Red Knight to life by creating an action figure of this TRANSFORMERS bot. Released on Dec 29, 2018, the exclusive action figure is only available on JD.

    JD also launched a “Super BUMBLEBEE Day” sales promotion to coincide with the Jan 4 premiere of the film in China. During the promotion, JD’s more than 300 million customers were able to purchase BUMBLEBEE movie-themed merchandise from Hasbro, Panasonic, HLA, and more. JD has outfitted multiple delivery vans and delivery boxes across China with BUMBLEBEE-themed designs.

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  • Four Korean firms join forces to fight Netflix

    Four Korean firms join forces to fight Netflix

    SK Telecom is teaming up with three major broadcasters to launch a new video content service in a bid to challenge the popularity of foreign services like Netflix. On Thursday, SK Telecom and broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS signed an MOU to combine their current over-the-top (OTT) media service businesses and launch a new and improved service by the first half of this year. OTT refers to content that is delivered directly to users over the internet without going through intermediaries like television.

    The four companies will also establish a joint venture that combines the OTT operations of each party. SK Telecom CEO and President Park Jung-ho said he is seeking around 200 billion won ($177.9 million) in investment for the new firm.

    SK Telecom’s subsidiary SK Broadband currently operates Oksusu, a television and movie platform released in 2016. The three broadcasters have Pooq, a joint venture that MBC and SBS both have a 40 percent stake in, while KBS holds 20 percent.

    Videos from over 70 channels are available on Pooq, including drama series from the 1990s and early 2000s.

    All four companies are expected to benefit from the partnership. Pooq has already established ties with Southeast Asian companies, having partners in Hong Kong’s Viu, Malaysia’s iflix and China’s iQiyi.

    During the MOU signing, SK Telecom CEO Park said he hoped to see the new strengthened service launch in Southeast Asia by June.

    In return, the three TV channels will have access to SK Telecom’s financial resources, which can be invested in original content production.

    The partnership is seen as an effort by the domestic companies to combine forces to fend off growing foreign competition, especially that posed by Netflix.

    Oksusu has 9.46 million registered users while Pooq has 3.7 million. Netflix is estimated to have around 900,000 domestic registered accounts, still trailing far behind the local companies.

    These figures only tell half the story, however.

    While Oksusu is the No. 1 OTT service in Korea in the number of accounts, its number of monthly active users is only estimated to be two-thirds of registered users. OTT services from competing mobile carriers like KT’s Olleh TV and LG U+’s Video Portal are also catching up quickly in total users.

    Also, very few original videos produced by Korean OTT service providers have enjoyed success.

    Netflix, on the other hand, saw tremendous growth in the three years it has been operating in Korea.

    As of last September, users spent a total of 283 million minutes a month on Netflix’s mobile app on Android according to WiseApp, which analyzes mobile app usage. Just two years ago, users had spent 14 million minutes a month on Netflix, or 20 times less.

    During the same period, the time that Oksusu and Pooq users spent on the apps increased less than twofold.

    Users spent a total of around 600 million minutes a month on both apps as of last September.

    Experts believe that the content budget is largely to explain for the differences in growth.

    Netflix is estimated to have spent around $8 billion on content production and licensing last year. Oksusu spent only around 10 billion won in content investment, however, a fraction of Netflix levels.

    “Through this partnership, Korean OTT service providers can strengthen the competitiveness of their content, which has been their weakest point,” said Jung Ji-soo, an analyst at Meritz Securities. “[The companies’] goal of becoming Korea’s Netflix will also help in energizing the domestic media ecosystem.”

  • Korean Air’s jets get name of East Sea badly wrong

    Korean Air’s jets get name of East Sea badly wrong

    Korean Air, the country’s flag carrier, displayed maps with the “Sea of Japan” aboard some its flights rather than the East Sea, the name supported by the Korean government. The Japanese name of the sea, which is opposed by Korea, was found on a number of passenger-entertainment monitors. According to news reports Sunday, 3-D maps on the displays aboard 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft were found to make the designation.

    Korean Air confirmed Monday that seven of its nine B787-9 planes had the problem. All other aircraft marked the location as the East Sea.

    A spokesman explained that a software upgrade was undertaken to change the maps into 3-D visuals, and that the company failed to notice the wording supplied by the developer.

    “The developer of the 3-D map is a company in the United States,” he said.

    Adjustments to replace the Sea of Japan by the East Sea in the seven aircraft were to be finalized Monday.

    “I was told that the modified version was sent to us today and delivered to the division in charge by 5 p.m,” added the spokesman, saying that the changes would be made by the end of the day.

    He said the company did not know why the other two B787-9 aircraft did not have the same problem.

    The controversy is the result of an ongoing dispute between Korea and Japan over the name of the sea located between the two countries. Both argue that their respective names had been used historically.

    Since South and North Korea first raised objection to the “Sea of Japan” name in 1992, the research on the subject has yielded conflicting conclusions.

    Korean Air received similar criticism in 2012, when its official homepage used the “Sea of Japan” name instead of the East Sea. The problem resulted from the company’s use of the Google Map service.

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  • FAO Schwarz Hong Kong store opens

    FAO Schwarz Hong Kong store opens

    New York toy retailer FAO Schwarz has opened a private, invitation-only store in Hong Kong, designed by Studio X. The 1150sqft FAO Schwarz Hong Kong store which quietly opened last month is a prototype retail concept for Asia where the company can test design elements and store features before it opens public stores in Mainland China and beyond.

    FAO Schwarz is the oldest toy store brand in the US and a New York City icon frequently referenced in popular culture with scenes in movies such as ‘Big’ in which Tom Hanks famously danced across the store’s giant floor piano. That store closed in July 2015, its turnover no longer sufficient to meet the high rentals of Manhattan, but the legend has lived on.

    Parent ThreeSixty has opened a new store in New York this year and early this month said it planned aBeijing store. The prototype FAO Schwarz Hong Kong store is located inside the newly opened ThreeSixty Group Hong Kong office, which was also designed by Studio X.

    A spokesperson for Studio X said the design is centred around the toy brand’s philosophy “Return to Wonder”, offering “a sense of theatre and occasion that the original New York store was renowned for”. Key design features include many of the original store’s memorable elements such as the giant floor piano and clock tower.

    Studio X oversaw the whole design, including visual merchandising, custom graphics and the shopfront. The company will work with FAO Schwarz to develop further flagship stores across the world next year.

    Studio X was founded in 2016 by Rufus Turnbull and Sam Bradley with a vision to offer a fresh approach to commercial design. Its clients include Ikea, Swire Properties, K11 and Aromatherapy Associates.

    View the gallery below (7 images) :

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  • HMV Hong Kong collapses

    HMV Hong Kong collapses

    The HMV Hong Kong business has collapsed, with the chain’s owner appointing liquidators. In a statement, HMV Digital China Group chairman Stephen Shiu Jnr said the company was “unable to escape from the crushing force of the wheel of history” as live-streaming services like Spotify and Netflix made CDs and DVDs redundant.

    The company is believed to have debts of HK$40 million and assets – mainly stock – of just $9 million. All seven stores have been closed and 80 staff laid off.

    “The company is under negotiation with the landlords of the settlement plans. HMV Retail has not been generating sufficient revenue to cover its own operating expenses and there is no reasonable prospect of making any significant improvement on its financial performance or operations in the foreseeable future.”

    As reported last week, HMV was facing three legal suits over unpaid rents on stores, totalling $5 million. One of those related to its four-story Causeway Bay flagship.

    After the chain last went into administration in 2013, private equity company AID Partners converted the business into more of a lifestyle destination, stocking headphones, bicycles, backpacks and other curated products. That met with some success, and AID sold the business to Shiu’s company in 2016 for $408 million. Yesterday, Shiu cited Apple’s AirPods for eroding demand for earphones, which had become a core category.

    “[We have] faced numerous struggles and ups and downs, witnessing the rise of the record industry and the heyday of CD, VCD and DVD home entertainment systems, but as time changes, the global development of information and economic climate have also changed”, the company said Shiu.

    The HMV Hong Kong business achieved a profit of $1.85 million in the September quarter last year – but during the same period this year, retail sales fell 41 per cent to $31.55 million and the business lost $18.81 million.

    The liquidators, Wong Sun-keung and Janice Tsui Mei-yuk of Vision AS will try to find new investors to refinance HMV Retail’s operations, although clearly any solution would involve adopting an entirely new business model.

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  • BTS adds 4 trillion won to the Korean economy

    BTS adds 4 trillion won to the Korean economy

    Popular boy band BTS’s annual economic value is estimated at over 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion), making it more lucrative than a medium-sized company. The group’s annual production inducement effect, which refers to the value generated in related industries, is estimated at around 4.1 trillion won, according to a report by Hyundai Research Institute (HRI) released Monday.

    “BTS was the first Korean artist to place at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200,” read the report. “The group’s rising fame and popularity can be observed in the explosively growing number of Google searches and YouTube video counts after 2017.”

    “Expecting such growth in popularity to have a positive effect on the Korean economy, we wanted to estimate the impact of BTS’s popularity on the domestic economy by assessing foreign tourists and consumer exports.”

    Research findings revealed that the HRI’s assumptions were correct. According to the report, BTS is responsible for attracting at least 796,000 foreign tourists annually to Korea since their debut in 2013. The report also credits the group for increasing sales of related exports by $1.1 billion every year, including $233.98 million worth of clothing, $426.64 million worth of cosmetics and $456.49 million worth of foodstuffs.

    BTS’s estimated annual economic value of 4.1 trillion won is 26 times larger than the average medium-sized company in Korea, which earned just 159 billion won in 2016 according to the report.

    The HRI report also discussed the factors believed to be behind the success of the group.

    “All BTS members participate in the songwriting and composing, often writing from their own perspective the concerns of young adults in their teens and twenties, and listeners are able to sympathize with them regardless of their nationality,“ read the report. “BTS’s albums and concerts are also structured in a way that has a narrative, which helps attract the attention of fans and raise their expectations for upcoming albums and concerts as well.”

    Other factors mentioned include active communication with BTS fans – known as ARMY – through social media and the fans’ strong support.

    BTS is expected to produce an accumulated total of 41.8 trillion won in economic value between 2014 and 2023 if it maintains its average popularity level of the last five years.

    “In order to maximize the economic impact of Hallyu [Korean wave], it’s necessary to develop and promote domestic tourism through dramas, movies and videos and raise demand from foreign tourists,” the report concluded.

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  • New Lego land in China

    New Lego land in China

    The site where a Legoland will be built in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on Friday. The development of the Legoland, about the same size as the Legoland in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, has been approved by the Gangwon government. British amusement park developer Merlin is in charge.

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