SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Top luxury brands popular with adults are also grabbing the market for children, their sales increasing as kids get ready to go back to school this month or next, industry officials said Monday. Some of the most popular items cost well over 1 million won (US$867). A Gucci-labeled backpack [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Shareholders of Harman International Industries Inc. will hold a meeting later this week to vote on a deal by Samsung Electronics Co. to acquire the U.S. car technology firm, according to industry sources Monday. In a deal worth US$8 billion, Samsung announced last November that it would buy Harman [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Amid the ongoing tension over Korea’s THAAD deployment decision of last year, Lotte, Korea’s fifth largest conglomerate, and the company providing the site for the missile defense system, has just pulled its business from Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Tmall. Lotte’s business venture in China has been struggling recently with [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Sales of portable solar chargers for smartphones and tablets have soared in South Korea as fans of Nintendo’s smash hit Pokemon Go want their devices to keep charging while playing the game. About two weeks after the augmented-reality mobile game was formally launched in South Korea, the number of [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – With only a week remaining until Valentine’s Day, demand is soaring for restaurants and hotels, and, of course, the traditional chocolates. According to industry watchers, hotels started promoting special overnight packages a while ago, and many have already been sold out. Among the (luxury) hotel and restaurant options is [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – The home appliance industry has recently upped growth expectations for the laundry dryer market from doubling this year (compared to 2016) to tripling, if not quadrupling, to 300,000 to 400,000 units to be sold. Despite the ubiquity of electric or gas dryers overseas, most Korean households still make use [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean government on Friday began a safety probe on diapers from Proctor & Gamble after allegations arose that they contain toxic chemicals. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards is taking action on rising fears at home after French media reported that the diapers had dioxin, an [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Warehouse clubs that sell a wide variety of merchandise in large quantities were not the most popular shopping destinations for consumers 10 to 15 years ago. Despite discounted prices, the idea of shopping at a place reminiscent of a massive storage facility didn’t quite come across as a pleasing [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Amid a prolonged economic downturn, practicality, or cost-effectiveness, has become the key element of consideration when purchasing a new product. In other words, more people are choosing budget-friendly products with the best performance. Daiso, a discount store franchise similar to American dollar stores, is among the companies benefiting from [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – P&G Korea is facing a storm of consumer complaints following a report by French magazine 60 Million Consumers (60 Millions de Consommateurs) released on January 24 that discovered carcinogens in ten diaper brands out of the 12 tested. The nappies of concern are Pampers, the same product currently in [...]