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Tag: Smartphones

  • Samsung Galaxy A9 to debut in Indian market

    Samsung Galaxy A9 to debut in Indian market

    Samsung Electronics has chosen India as the first country in which to release its Galaxy A9 mid-range smartphone. The company is set to begin sales of the model on Nov. 28.  The A9, introduced on Oct. 11 in Kuala Lumpur, in the presence of some 1,000 journalists and businessmen, is the first Samsung smartphone with four cameras on the back.

    “We are beefing up the smartphone lineup and marketing activities in India,” a Samsung spokesman said. “We plan to churn out smartphones best optimized for the Indian market at the newly established factory in India and supply directly to the local market.”

    In July, Samsung completed the expansion of its smartphone factory in Noida, south of the Indian capital of New Delhi. Work began on the 800-billion-won ($707,780) project in June 2017.

    Once the No. 1 smartphone vendor in India, Samsung has been overtaken by Chinese rookie Xiaomi, the world’s fourth-largest smartphone vendor. India is the world’s third-largest smartphone market.

    According to Counterpoint Research in October, Xiaomi accounted for 27 percent of the India smartphone market, up 5 points year on year, whereas Samsung captured 23 percent, the same share as a year earlier.

    India is a crucial market for Samsung, given that the company lost China to Chinese players. According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung’s market share in China slumped to a mere 0.8 percent in the second quarter, with Huawei taking 27 percent.

    Samsung launched eight models in its low-end Galaxy J series alongside premium models, such as Galaxy S9 and Note9, in India this year. The J series is the company’s the most popular lineup in India

    The A9 is a part of the trend of adding as many cameras as possible to smartphones. Its four cameras on the rear boast four different resolutions – 24, 10, eight and five megapixels. The first one is regular, the second has a telephoto lens and the third is for ultra-wide angle shots. The fourth, with the lowest resolution, serves as a depth camera that gives users the ability to manually adjust the depth of field of their images. That helps create so-called bokeh-effect photos, whereby the subject is in focus but the background is blurred.

    Xiaomi is betting aggressively on India. Its Indian unit promised to open 500 offline stores under the Mi brand and hire more than 15,000 staff by the end of 2019. Huawei followed suit, vowing to expand production facilities and open over 1,000 stores.

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  • Xiaomi aims at 5,000 stores in India by the end of 2019

    Xiaomi aims at 5,000 stores in India by the end of 2019

    Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is looking to cement its status as India’s leading smartphone provider by opening thousands of stores before the end of 2019. The company announced it would increase its presence in India from 500 retail stores to 5,000 by 2020. “It’s been over a year since we started offering our products through offline retail and we have seen strong growth there,” said Manu Jain, Xiaomi vice president and managing director for India.

    “Offline retail is a huge segment in our country with nearly 40 percent of the offline market focused in rural regions, and all of this should increase our offline sales and account for 50 percent of the company’s revenue by the end of next year.”

    In a Twitter post, the smartphone maker invited people to apply to run one of the franchised stores, which will be based on its Mi retail model.

    “It’s been over a year since we started offering our products through offline retail and we have seen strong growth there,” – Manu Jain

    “Mi store is the ‘new retail’ model for rural India that gives flagship store experience to our rural customers,” Xiaomi said on Twitter, adding that the new stores would generate more than 15,000 jobs.

    India is one of Xiaomi’s fastest-growing markets, according to Reuters, where it has had success with its budget Redmi phone series.

    The firm is the country’s leading smartphone provider, with 30 percent of market share. It entered the market in 2014 as an online-only retailer, before opening physical stores across India. Samsung and Vivo are its closest competitors there.

    Xiaomi was awarded a Guinness World Record on Tuesday for opening the largest number of retail stores in India simultaneously. The company also operates in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Mexico.

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  • Apple pilloried over display model policy

    Apple pilloried over display model policy

    Just before the Fair Trade Commission comes to a decision on whether Apple has violated domestic fair trade laws, Korean phone distributors are calling the tech giant out for being the only phone manufacturer in the country that makes them pay for display phones in their stores.

    The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is due to hold a meeting in mid-December after two years of investigating accusations against Apple and finally decide whether the company indulged in unfair practices. Some complaints are that Apple charges mobile carriers for repair and advertising costs of Apple products.

    On Wednesday, the Korea Mobile Distributors Association (KMDA) accused the company of doing something that no other handset maker did in Korea. “Apple doesn’t let us sell iPhones at all if we don’t purchase the demo phones needed for store displays,” read a statement from the KMDA. “Other manufacturers provide the display phones themselves, and come to collect them later.”

    According to the association, Apple even charged retailers for the costs of building shelves for display models and controlled where the promotional posters for new products were placed. Most of the demo devices are priced at around 70 percent of the market price. Distributors say they also had to purchase demo iPads and Apple Watches.

    iPhones are getting more costly, which could be a factor in the distributors going public with complaints against the company.

    In the past, Apple phones cost no more than 1 million won ($883). Last November, the iPhone X launched just three weeks after the iPhone 8 with a 1.42 million won price tag for a 64 gigabyte model. With the release of the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR on Nov. 2, iPhone prices have reached new highs. The iPhone XS Max is selling for more than 30 percent higher than the iPhone X at 1.97 million won for a 512 gigabyte model.

    “Previously, I spent around 1.1 million won on demo devices for Apple’s new products,” said a 53-year-old owner of a wireless store in Jongno District, central Seoul.

    Branches of the three major mobile carriers – SKT, LG U+ and KT – are the main distributors of mobile phones in Korea.

    “But recently, with Apple products becoming more expensive, the costs I have to bear have risen tremendously,” he said.

    The owner estimated that he spent nearly 5 million won on purchasing demo phones for Apple’s newest models.

    According to industry estimates, each mobile retailer spends around 2.9 million won a year purchasing Apple demo phones. This means that Apple will earn around 25.5 billion won in total sales of demo phones from the country’s 8,800 wireless stores.

    “We are not trying to sue Apple right away at this point, but rather figure out who holds responsibility,” added a KMDA spokesman. “Mobile carriers may be responsible for allowing Apple to pursue such unfair practices, leaving distributors to pay for the costs.”

    Korea is not the only country that has investigated Apple for unfair practices. This July, Japanese authorities called out the tech giant for antimonopoly practices that included forcing local mobile carriers to subsidize iPhone prices to boost sales. In 2016, France sued Apple for $55 million over unfair practices that also involved unfair contracts.

    Apple has not released an official response to the KMDA’s complaints.

    Sales of Apple’s new products have been less than stellar, which is also fueling dissatisfaction among distributors. According to industry estimates, the number of customers buying Apple’s three newest models between Nov. 2 and Nov. 7 was only 60 percent of the number that purchased Apple’s iPhone X and iPhone 8 in their first week last November.

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  • Retailers attack ‘unfair’ Apple South Korea practices

    Retailers attack ‘unfair’ Apple South Korea practices

    Apple South Korea is under fire from retailers, accused of using unfair commercial practices. South Korean retailers have joined forces to confront Apple’s continuous “gapjil” — a uniquely Korean term referring to the abuse of power by someone against a person in a weaker position — that has put an increasing financial burden on their operations.

    The Korea Mobile Distribution Association has claimed in a statement that Apple South Korea had habitually forced local dealers to buy the iPhone maker’s new models for demonstration or demo phones, as opposed to other brands’ practices, putting an increasing financial burden on them, and that “they cannot stand it anymore”.

    The retailers say they had no choice but to accept Apple’s overbearing demands, since the popular iPhone’s position in the market makes it difficult to ignore, to say the least.

    It is reported that the retailers had to buy Apple’s new models including the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR, but having to buy too many new models in a short period of time and the “exorbitant prices” of the new phones resulted in a significant financial burden.

    According to the KMDA, most mobile phone manufacturers offer their new models for demonstration for free, and collect them when newer models are released. Apple, however, has imposed additional conditions regarding the brand’s new model promotion: forcing retailers to pay for the manufacturing cost of phone stands, and determining where the stands and promotional posters will be placed in stores, according to local retailers.

    Domestic mobile carriers are no exception to Apple’s overbearing position. Industry watchers say local carriers had to shoulder advertising expenses aimed to promote Apple’s new lineup. Even the costs of subsidy plans and repair fees for Apple’s phones tend to be covered by mobile carriers.

    The Fair Trade Commission ruled that Apple South Korea’s sales practices were in violation of local competition laws, and sent a review report to the iPhone maker that indicates the corresponding fines and required measures to address the company’s anticompetitive behavior. Apple has yet to respond.

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  • Xiaomi takes over Meitu’s phone business, manufacture co-branded products

    Xiaomi takes over Meitu’s phone business, manufacture co-branded products

    Meitu and Xiaomi have formed a strategic partnership to jointly launch Meitu-branded phones and other smart devices. The partnership between Meitu – best known for its selfie app – and Xiaomi, a fast-growing technology company with smartphones at its core – will have a far-reaching impact on the brand development of Meitu and Xiaomi as well as the smartphone market as a whole, according to research house IDC. It will allow both companies to expand their customer base and signals a further consolidation in the highly competitive Chinese smartphone market.

    A spokesperson for IDC said that during the last year, Xiaomi has stepped up its efforts to improve the camera capabilities of its products and has done a lot in AI-powered photography research and development. “Leveraging Meitu’s image processing technologies and selfie algorithms will help Xiaomi further boost its AI-powered photography and photo quality and reduce its gap with leading vendors such as Huawei.”

    IDC says Meitu is popular with females which will help draw more women to Xiaomi products which are currently “overrepresented by male users”.

    “Introducing the Meitu brand also enables Xiaomi to offer greater diversity of smartphone products under multiple brands and series, including Redmi, Xiaomi, Black Shark, Pocophone, and Meitu. Xiaomi is gradually forming a multi-brand portfolio targeting different user groups, thereby laying the foundation for it to compete in the market in the long term.”

    The spokesperson said that through Xiaomi’s sales network, Meitu’s software products will reach a larger group of customers via smartphones. “Moreover, licensing its hardware business to Xiaomi allows Meitu to focus on software development and the upgrade of its image processing technologies.”

    And finally, with the top five vendors in China’s smartphone market taking up nearly 83 per cent market share, the growth potential will increasingly diminish for small vendors in areas such as marketing and supply chain resource integration.

    “Going forward, more small vendors are expected to seek strategic cooperation with large vendors and drive consolidation in the China’s smartphone market.”

    Meitu was founded in Xiamen in 2008 as a developer of selfie apps such as MeituPic and BeautyCam, and has been focussed on selfie algorithm development. In 2013, the company ventured into the smartphone market and launched smartphones targeting female users and the selfie market. Despite a higher profit per phone sold and a higher brand premium, the company has become increasingly marginalised in China’s brutally competitive smartphone market due to its meagre shipments.

    According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Meitu only had a mere 0.5 per cent market share in China with shipments of approximately 1.5 million units as of the third quarter of this year.

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  • Vingroup to invest in Hanoi smart electronics plant

    Vingroup to invest in Hanoi smart electronics plant

    Vingroup is expected to invest VND1.2 trillion ($51.38 million) in a “Smart Electronics Factory” that will produce smartphones as its first products next year. The project, expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2019, is the first one to be implemented under a cooperation agreement between the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park (Hoa Lac HTP) Management Board and Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup.

    According to the agreement, in the period 2018-2020 looking towards 2025, Vingroup will focus its investments on hi-tech manufacturing in the Hoa Lac HTP.

    The corporation will invest in research and development, advanced technology, software, hi-tech industrial manufacturing, housing development, commerce and services in Hoa Lac.

    The first project to be implemented under the agreement will be a “Smart Electronics Factory” in Hoa Lac. Construction will begin as soon as the group’s investment plan is approved by competent authorities.

    The factory will be built on an area of five hectares. Once operational, it is expected to produce 3- 4 million smart electronics products a year, supplying both domestic and international markets.

    Nguyen Viet Quang, vice president and CEO of Vingroup, said that smartphones will be the factory’s first product to debut in the market.

    Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh said the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Management Board is improving the HTP’s infrastructure, providing the best conditions for investment, and creating a legal corridor to facilitate businesses.

    These efforts are aimed at developing the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park into a smart-technology city, he said.

    There are 87 investment licensed projects in Hoa Lac at present with total capital amounting to approximately VND78 trillion ($3.34 billion).

    In 2018 alone, Hoa Lac has welcomed 10 licensed projects with a total registered capital of VND15.86 trillion ($678.74 million).

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  • Star at Xiaomi’s store opening in NZ

    Star at Xiaomi’s store opening in NZ

    The electric scooter craze has well and truly hit New Zealand. Within just hours of Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi, or “Mi” as many know it as, opening the doors to its first New Zealand store, the retailer sold more than $250,000 worth of electric scooters.

    In just seven hours it had clocked $257,750 in sales from the e-scooters, which are similar to the popular rentable Lime-branded ones sweeping Auckland and Christchurch.

    About 200 of the scooters priced at $599 were sold online in 30 minutes yesterday, causing the retailer’s website to crash.

    Meanwhile, at Sylvia Park in Mount Wellington, where Mi opened its store, about 1500 people queued – from one side of the mall to the other – waiting in line for a glimpse of the scooter.

    More than 400 Mi electric scooters were sold in-store.

    The scooters are said to now be sold out.

    The Mi e-scooter is popular overseas.

    Mi New Zealand spokesman Eric Chang said he believed the popularity of rentable electric scooters had driven significant demand and interest in consumers wanting their own.

    The scooters have a range of 29km and can travel up to 25km/h.

    Lime scooters were introduced to Auckland and Christchurch streets last month and have proven popular and been in the headlines since.

    Some riders have left a trail of mayhem, and injury claims from electric scooter-induced injuries have soared.

    Between October 14 and 31 there were 69 electric scooter claims lodged with ACC.

    Overseas there have been bans of the scooters and one recorded death. As of today, there has been a global recall of models made by Chinese manufacturer Okai.

    A spokeswoman for Lime said the company was working with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and other international agencies following reports the scooters made by Okai could break apart while in use.

    Lime said it did not anticipate any disruptions to its service after the recall.

    Lime currently operates in a string of cities across the world, offering e-scooters and bikes for hire, including in Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Canada, Austria and United States.

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  • KT promotes its 5G team to run entire mobile business

    KT promotes its 5G team to run entire mobile business

    Mobile carrier KT announced its annual reshuffle Friday as it actively prepares to gain a strong foothold in 5G-related activities in 2019. The next-generation 5G mobile network is expected to be 20 times faster than the current 4G network. Mobile carriers are working to achieve commercialization of the technology by March next year.

    KT’s 5G business team used to be part of the company’s marketing division. Following the reshuffle, the team is in charge of the carrier’s entire mobile business.

    Its main role will be developing customer services using the 5G network.

    A new 5G Platform Development team will be part of the marketing division. It is tasked with devising services for corporate clients, including those related to smart cities, smart factories and connected cars.

    As for changes at the top, former chief secretary, Kim In-heo, 55, was appointed president of KT. Kim has been noted inside the company for his practical working style and flexibility with regard to fixed customs.

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  • Foldable phone coming early 2019

    Foldable phone coming early 2019

    Samsung Electronics will make its foldable smartphone available by the first half of 2019, with initial shipments estimated at least at 1 million units, according to Koh Dong-jin, president of the IT and Mobile Communications division at the company.

    The comments were made Thursday in San Francisco on the day two of the Samsung Developer Conference, where he discussed the rollout of the new flagship phone with considerable confidence.

    “We will definitely introduce the phone before the end of the first quarter next year, although I cannot pin down the date at this moment,” he said. “And we will maintain the line each year.”

    His comments indicate that Samsung will be adding foldables to its existing two flagship lines, the Galaxy S – released most recently in February – and the Galaxy Note – released in the fall. But the foldables will be released in a limited number of countries, including Korea and the United States. Koh added that Samsung has yet to confirm the name of the lineup.

    Given Samsung’s status as the No.1 smartphone vendor in the world and the fact that its flagship models sell at least 1 million units, Samsung is gearing up to churn out over 1 million foldables from the outset “if the market reaction is positive,” he added.

    Koh’s meeting came a day after Samsung introduced the foldable phone. The company demonstrated what it calls the “Infinity Flex Display,” which measures 7.3 inches diagonally when the phone is open like a book. The screen is slightly larger than the largest smartphone screen and slightly smaller than those of a conventional tablet PCs.

    The company has so far declined to provide additional specifications, including thickness, weight and the battery power.

    “We showcased the display to show off Samsung having reached the stage of commercializing the device,” he said. “We have overcome several barriers, such as making the central hinge through the screen invisible. What remains to be done is working on the user interface to make it more concrete.”

    He went on to say that Samsung distributed the foldable device to developers before the event so that they could help in designing the best-possible user experience.

    Two months earlier, he met with Google CEO Sundai Pichai to launch a task force for foldable user experience.

    Beginning with foldables, Samsung is getting ready to revolutionize smartphone display form factors – to rollables as well as stretchables.

    “As much as foldables will have a huge technological impact, so will rollables and stretchables. That’s why we are studying them,” he said. “But the entire workforce is devoted to foldables at present.”

    Samsung has been grappling with declining sales and revenue from smartphone business. Operating profit for the division during the third quarter fell 29.8 percent year on year to 2.22 trillion won ($1.96 billion), while revenue slid 10 percent to 24.91 trillion won over the same period.

    Chinese rookie Huawei is rapidly catching up.

    Koh mentioned 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things as breakthrough technologies that will help Samsung compete.

    “While we have been maintaining leadership with 4G over the past decade, 5G, AI, IoT and augmented reality will offer a new opportunity in 2019.”

    He added that foldables will achieve another leap when such technologies become reality and are combined with the device.

    “Next year will be the 10th anniversary of Galaxy smartphones, and it’s very meaningful to me,” he said. “We will be coming up with an impressive Galaxy S10 as well.”

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  • New iPhones sell slowly in Korea

    New iPhones sell slowly in Korea

    A week after Apple introduced its latest iPhone series at stores in Korea, sales are only about 60 percent of those reported for the previous lineup over the same period of time. According to estimates compiled by local mobile carriers, a total of 170,000 iPhone XS, XS Max and XR models were purchased between Nov. 2 and Nov. 7. A total of 280,000 iPhones 8 and X models were sold in the first week of their release in November 2017. Sales of the two models began three weeks apart.

    Industry watchers assumed that Apple’s simultaneous release of the three models was designed to garner greater attention and boost sales in the early days.

    However, figures so far show that the latest iPhones are selling more slowly than earlier models.

    “It’s not doing that great,” said an employee at a brick-and-mortar phone shop in central Seoul on Friday when asked if the new iPhones are popular.

    “There’s the expensive price tag, but it also has to do with the fact that there aren’t dramatic function upgrades. To be honest, even I can’t really notice a big difference between the iPhone X and XS. Maybe the next series will come with more innovative features – we’ll see.”

    Price became an issue as soon as Apple introduced the new models. In Korea, the 512-gigabyte iPhone XS Max sells for nearly 1.97 million won ($1,745), while the 256-gigabyte XS retails at 1.56 million won.

    Even the budget XR model is priced slightly below one million won.

    Despite the price concerns, presales have been reasonably strong. SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ took orders between Oct. 26 and Nov. 1.

    Presales results for the three new models differed per company, but the general assessment was that demand was similar or stronger than for previous generation iPhones.

    Presale results don’t necessarily indicate success. Customers who preorder iPhones in Korea, even before actually touching the product, are likely to be loyal Apple fans.

    “The thing about Apple maniacs is that they will get their hands on the next iPhone no matter what,” said a source from one of the mobile carriers.

    “But success doesn’t just come from them. The general public, especially those switching between smartphone brands, should be attracted to buying it, too. The new iPhone seems to be failing in that respect this time.”

    Up until a few years ago, a few manufacturers like Apple and Samsung dominated the smartphone market. Customers nowadays have a much wider ranges of options in terms of price and style.

    Over the last decade, smartphone technology has advanced so much that even budget models priced at half that of the latest iPhones come with high-tech functions, such as face unlock.

    From Apple’s side, there are signs that the company is well aware of the slower demand.

    Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review reported on Monday that Apple told smartphone assemblers Foxconn and Pegatron to halt plans to bring on additional lines for iPhone XR production. All companies involved declined to comment.

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  • Viettel’s foreign market earnings up in Q3

    Viettel’s foreign market earnings up in Q3

    Viettel earned gross profits of $57.25 million from overseas markets in Q3, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent. Its overseas investment arm, Viettel Global, reaped net revenues of nearly VND4.43 billion ($188.71) in the third quarter, up 5 percent over the same period last year.

    Accumulated net revenues reached VND12.43 trillion ($529.7 million) between January and September.

    The revenues include nearly VND5.61 trillion ($238.94 million) from African countries, including Cameroon, Tanzania, Mozambique and Burudi, VND4.54 trillion ($193.68 million) from Southeast Asia countries, including Cambodia and East Timor, and VND1.69 trillion ($71.82 million) from Latin America.

    The company’s revenues from its three continents rose 3-11 percent, with Latin America registering the greatest increase.

    The increase is attributed to the company’s development of 4G services, digital wallet and other information technology projects serving overseas businesses and governments.

    Viettel Global is providing 4G services in 9 overseas markets, and digital wallet services in 8 markets.

    Also, Viettel Global’s sales expense and management costs reduced 4 percent and 12 percent respectively in the first 9 months of this year, compared to the same period last year.

    Viettel Global was established in 2006 to spread Viettel Group’s presence in foreign markets. Eight out of Viettel Global’s 10 overseas markets have begun earning profits. It has taken up the largest market share of the telecommunications sectors in Laos, Cambodia, and Timor Leste.

    It plans to expand its overseas operations in the Southeast Asian region and foreign markets that share similar population sizes as Vietnam this year. The company also aims to achieve a 10-15 percent year-on-year increase in terms of the number of subscribers by the end of 2018.

  • Vingroup acquires mobile phone retailer Vien Thong A

    Vingroup acquires mobile phone retailer Vien Thong A

    Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup has officially confirmed its acquisition of major tech products retailer Vien Thong A.

    In its financial statement for the third quarter of 2018, Vingroup lists Vien Thong A Import Export Trading Production Corporation as a fully-owned subsidiary.

    On September 14, Mai Thu Thuy, board member of the Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company and Chairwoman of the Vincom Mega Mall Royal City, was appointed legal representative of the acquired company.

    Established in November 1997 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vien Thong A is the oldest retail technology chain in Vietnam. It has nearly 200 stores, including independent shops and a “shop-in-shop” model in BigC supermarket, CoopMart, and 100 service centers.

    In early 2017, Vien Thong A CEO Hoang Ngoc Vy revealed plans to restructure the company and seek investors to expand its business.

    Last month, VinCommerce, a member of Vingroup, bought Fivimart from domestic company Nhat Nam JSC and Japanese retailer AEON, which held 70 percent and 30 percent stakes, respectively.

    In the first nine months of this year, retail sales of Vingroup reached VND12.89 trillion (nearly $555 million), a 41 percent year-on-year surge.

    Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest property conglomerate, dominates the housing and property markets with Vinhomes.

    It has also entered the healthcare market with Vinmec, runs a chain of supermarkets called Vinmart, and entertains tourists at Vinpearl resorts.

  • Smartphone parts makers struggling

    Smartphone parts makers struggling

    Korea’s smartphone parts industry has been in decline. Squeezed by price-competitive Chinese producers and a saturated market, it is losing sales and workers. The difficulties faced by suppliers just add to Korea’s manufacturing concerns, as profits slump at automobile companies and as the semiconductor supercycle seems to be coming to an end.
    An analysis published on Nov. 4 based on responses from 42 locally-listed smartphone parts producers indicates over 3,700 jobs and 2.6 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in revenue have been lost in the business over the past five years. The analysis compared financial statements issued in the first half of 2013 with those from the first half of 2018 by producers of smartphone covers, cameras, circuit boards and touch screens.

    Combined revenue for the 42 firms in the first half in 2018 stood at 5.69 trillion won, down 31.4 percent over the past five years from 8.29 trillion won. Twenty-six of them, or 61.9 percent, reported a drop in revenue over that time. Combined operating profit at the 42 companies collapsed, falling from 497.8 trillion won five years ago to a loss of 6.3 trillion won in the first half of this year. Net margins for the group was negative 0.11 percent. Nineteen of the companies, or 45.2 percent, are reporting operating losses.

    The trend is in line with the results at major electronics companies. LG Electronics’ mobile communications division has been reporting operating losses for four consecutive years.

    Smartphone components producers have faced significant job losses, with total employment falling from 20,613 to 16,818. Only four companies, or 9.5 percent of those surveyed, reported a rise in revenue, operating profit and jobs over the five-year period.

    SMAC, a Kosdaq-listed supplier for Samsung Electronics of touchscreen modules for smartphones, recorded 26.5 billion won in revenue in the first half. That is about 10 percent of the revenue it posted in the first half of 2013. Operating loss for the first six months of this year was 5.8 trillion won.

    “Our earnings results were challenged as the average period in which people switch smartphones lengthened from two to three years and technological changes came quickly,” said an executive at the company.

    People & Telecommunication, another Kosdaq-listed manufacturer, was the victim of embezzlement by its majority shareholder of as much as 20 billion won last month. Once the country’s leading phone cover producer, it is now suspended from trading on the exchange.

    Experts say that local smartphone producers failed in solidifying their position as the market stagnated.

    According to Strategy Analytics, smartphones shipments will total 1.48 billion units this year globally, retreating for the first time since 2007, the year Apple introduced its first smartphone. Samsung is projected to ship 298.5 million smartphones this year, according to the market researcher, registering a figure below 300 million for the first time since 2013. LG Electronics is facing weakness except in North America.

    Rapidly advancing technologies are weighing on component producers. Smartphone used to have thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display panels, but now, organic light-emitting diode panels are utilized.

    Even though smartphones are adding more cameras – two or three at least – smaller players in Korea are pressed to keep innovating.

    “Even before we have finished depreciating production facilities, we have to invest again in new facilities,” said an executive at a camera module producer. “Profitability is feared to be damaged.”

    Samsung Electronics is having Chinese manufacturers assemble its medium and low-cost models for the Chinese market, with the goal of maintaining its global smartphone market share of 20.2 percent.

    Samsung is scheduled to release Galaxy A6s this month in China, which has been developed and produced by Wintech, a Chinese company.

    “Even though Samsung said that the Chinese-manufactured models are only for the Chinese market, it means parts made by China will naturally increase,” said an executive at one of the parts producers.

    Smartphone parts makers are trying to find new business or diversify their supply channels. Kim Hak-kwon, CEO of Jaeyoung Solutec, a smartphone camera optical components maker, says he has pinned hopes on the resumption of operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. The components require sophisticated manual labor, and using skilled North Koreans is seen to improve the situation.

    Others are looking towards developments on the software side of the business.

    “Smartphone Cinderellas – software-based start-ups – are supposed to be a breath of fresh air for the industry,” said Sohn Dong-won, professor of business administration at Inha University.

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  • Latest iPhone models sell well in first week out in Korea

    Latest iPhone models sell well in first week out in Korea

    After a week of presales, Apple’s new series of iPhones officially rolled out in the Korean market Friday. The response for the three phones – iPhone XS, XS Max, and the budget XR model – has been good.  According to local mobile carriers, the trio attracted the same number of or slightly more preorders than the previous iPhone generation: the iPhone X and the iPhone 8.

    “Overall, the new phones are generating more interest than the previous series,” a spokesperson from KT said. “Though the iPhone XS is getting more attention than the XR.”

    Presales data from Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom released Friday shows that 62 percent of the preorders were for iPhone XS, while 26 percent were for iPhone XS Max and 12 percent for the iPhone XR.

    The most popular color option was gold for iPhone XS and XS Max, followed by space gray and silver. For iPhone XR, black and white models led.

    The new phones are big with the young. About 30 percent of the early buyers were women in their 20s, according to SK Telecom. People in their 20s including men accounted for half of all customers making early reservations for the iPhones.

    “Younger people seem to be more interested in buying the new iPhones,” SK Telecom said in statement.

    As for storage, the 256 gigabyte (GB) option was the most popular for both iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Considering users have to pay over 1.8 million won (＄1,611) for the 512GB option, many customers favored the slightly less pricey option. For iPhone XR, the mid-priced 128GB option was more popular than units with 64GB or 256GB of storage.

    It will take time to judge the true demand for the new phones from Apple, and questions are being raised as to whether the brand is up against the limits of efficiency gains and losing momentum.

    Apple posted ＄14.1 billion in net profit in the third quarter, up 32 percent year on year. Investors focused on weak unit sales and weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for the fourth quarter. Apple said it sold 46.89 million iPhones in the third quarter, a mere 0.4 percent increase year on year and below analyst expectations of 47.5 million unit sales. The revenue increase came from higher pricing.

    The U.S. phone maker also announced that starting next year it will not be reporting a breakdown of sales by product line. Luca Maestri, chief financial officer at Apple, said in a conference call Thursday that unit sales are no longer a good measure of the company’s performance.

    Apple stock fell by as much as 7.4 percent in aftermarket trading.

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  • Half of smartphones sold in 2018 will have AI assistant

    Half of smartphones sold in 2018 will have AI assistant

    Half of smartphones sold globally this year will have an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, a report by an industry consulting firm showed Sunday.

    According to Strategy Analytics (SA), 47.7 percent of smartphones sold on the global market in 2018 will be equipped with some kind of on-device AI assistant, up from 36.6 percent last year.

    The report further finds that on-device AI is growing fast among smartphone vendors and by 2023, 89.9 percent of smartphones will have a built-in AI assistant.

    In 2017, Google Assistant rose to be the top AI assistant with a 46.7 percent market share, followed by Apple’s Siri with 40.1 percent, it said.

    The report said the market share of Google’s AI assistant is expected to climb to 51.3 percent this year and 60.6 percent by 2023.