Samsung Electronics to freeze salaries in South Korea for first time since 2009

Samsung Electronics will freeze wages in 2015 for employees in South Korea for the first time in six years, after the world's biggest smartphone maker saw profits fall in the face of rising competition. The cost-cutting move is the latest by Samsung Electronics, which in January reported its first annual profit decline since 2011, as it lost market share to Apple Inc's new iPhones and cheaper Chinese rivals like Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL]. The wage freeze also comes as the electronics giant i