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Sunday, November 22, 2009, 02:30 pm
iPhone to launch in South Korea at end of November
Apple's iPhone will be available to South Korean customers on November 28, just 10 days after South Korea's Communications Commission approved the iPhone for sale.KT Corp announced that it will offer iPhones for sale beginning on November 28th, making it the first company in South Korea to carry the phone. According to an AP report, KT Corp. began accepting online and in-store orders for the iPhone but will not activate service until the 28th.
South Korea’s handheld market is dominated by Samsung and Pantech, which according to Bloomberg have a 90 percent market share in South Korea. Nearly 90 percent of South Korea’s population owns a mobile phone.
In a press release, Kim Woo-sik, CEO of KT Corp’s personal customer group said, “We are thrilled to bring iPhone to South Korea. Our customers will enjoy the power and benefits of using the revolutionary iPhone on KT’s 3G network.”
The Korea Communications Commission approved the iPhone for sale at its meeting on Wednesday. South Korea has a nationwide policy that all devices providing location-based services be subjected to review.
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Previous Comments View All
Apple will have to show Samsung the real competition here. That 90% will have to be chiseled away, point by point until Apple gets half of it. It will take time, perhaps years, but it will happen.
The march is on, there's no stopping Apple now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram 
I thought that S. Korea was all CDMA?
I thought that S. Korea was all CDMA?
I did too. Apparently there are two GSM telcos (including KT) though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
I thought that S. Korea was all CDMA?
I thought that S. Korea was all CDMA?
Very small percentage owned by LG Telecom is CDMA-based. Their two largest carriers account for ~80% of their ~45M users GSM-based. Not too many cell users and their phones and services are "advanced" like the Japanese so I wouldn't expect much in the way of sales so be prepared for the "the iPhone is a failure" and "nobody wants the iPhone anymore" comments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
Very small percentage owned by LG Telecom is CDMA-based. Their two largest carriers account for ~80% of their ~45M users GSM-based. Not too many cell users and their phones and services are "advanced like the Japanese so I wouldnt expect much in the way of sales so be prepared for the the iPhone is a failure and nobody wants the iPhone anymore comments.
Very small percentage owned by LG Telecom is CDMA-based. Their two largest carriers account for ~80% of their ~45M users GSM-based. Not too many cell users and their phones and services are "advanced like the Japanese so I wouldnt expect much in the way of sales so be prepared for the the iPhone is a failure and nobody wants the iPhone anymore comments.
Umm but isn't the iPhone actually doing quite well in Japan? While many of the phones in Japan have more features than the iPhone there is actually more people buying iPhones than the others because the iPhone is easy to use and all those features that people say the Japanese crave are in fact so convoluted to use that they don't use them much anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
Very small percentage owned by LG Telecom is CDMA-based. Their two largest carriers account for ~80% of their ~45M users GSM-based. Not too many cell users and their phones and services are "advanced like the Japanese so I wouldnt expect much in the way of sales so be prepared for the the iPhone is a failure and nobody wants the iPhone anymore comments.
Very small percentage owned by LG Telecom is CDMA-based. Their two largest carriers account for ~80% of their ~45M users GSM-based. Not too many cell users and their phones and services are "advanced like the Japanese so I wouldnt expect much in the way of sales so be prepared for the the iPhone is a failure and nobody wants the iPhone anymore comments.
I agree with you. I was in Korea last week (travel there often) and was chatting to colleagues about this. There seems to be pretty much zero interest in the iPhone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
Very small percentage owned by LG Telecom is CDMA-based. Their two largest carriers account for ~80% of their ~45M users GSM-based. Not too many cell users and their phones and services are "advanced like the Japanese so I wouldnt expect much in the way of sales so be prepared for the the iPhone is a failure and nobody wants the iPhone anymore comments.
Very small percentage owned by LG Telecom is CDMA-based. Their two largest carriers account for ~80% of their ~45M users GSM-based. Not too many cell users and their phones and services are "advanced like the Japanese so I wouldnt expect much in the way of sales so be prepared for the the iPhone is a failure and nobody wants the iPhone anymore comments.
If there are any comments about 'the iPhone is a failure' with regards to Korea, it won't be because Korean phones are 'advanced,' but rather because of regulatory limitations and misinformation on behalf of the Korean government, telecos, and local cell-phone makers (Samsung, LG) towards Apple.
I've lived in Seoul for several years now and have witnessed all kinds of protectionism of domestic products here. It's no surprise to the expat community that we haven't been able to get our hands on any of the top smartphones - iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Pre, etc.
Finally, though, we'll be able to discard our local crap phones for real choices.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lowededwookie
Umm but isn't the iPhone actually doing quite well in Japan? While many of the phones in Japan have more features than the iPhone there is actually more people buying iPhones than the others because the iPhone is easy to use and all those features that people say the Japanese crave are in fact so convoluted to use that they don't use them much anyway.
Umm but isn't the iPhone actually doing quite well in Japan? While many of the phones in Japan have more features than the iPhone there is actually more people buying iPhones than the others because the iPhone is easy to use and all those features that people say the Japanese crave are in fact so convoluted to use that they don't use them much anyway.
The iPhone did beat out any single model device for a month or so recently in Japan, but I think that overall the percentage of iPhone sales is still lower than other countries' smartphone unit marketshare. Regardless, it's a runaway success for an western designed smartphone in Japan.
But that is beside the point, my comment was about people claiming that it will fail, lke they did when the iPhone first arrived, based on the fact that it doesn't such-and-such feature that everyone uses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by paulalex
If there are any comments about 'the iPhone is a failure' with regards to Korea, it won't be because Korean phones are 'advanced,' but rather because of regulatory limitations and misinformation on behalf of the Korean government, telecos, and local cell-phone makers (Samsung, LG) towards Apple.
I've lived in Seoul for several years now and have witnessed all kinds of protectionism of domestic products here. It's no surprise to the expat community that we haven't been able to get our hands on any of the top smartphones - iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Pre, etc.
Finally, though, we'll be able to discard our local crap phones for real choices.
If there are any comments about 'the iPhone is a failure' with regards to Korea, it won't be because Korean phones are 'advanced,' but rather because of regulatory limitations and misinformation on behalf of the Korean government, telecos, and local cell-phone makers (Samsung, LG) towards Apple.
I've lived in Seoul for several years now and have witnessed all kinds of protectionism of domestic products here. It's no surprise to the expat community that we haven't been able to get our hands on any of the top smartphones - iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Pre, etc.
Finally, though, we'll be able to discard our local crap phones for real choices.
Refreshing to hear that viewpoint.
The cliche is always about the great mobile services in S. Korea, but I've been skeptical (just as I have been in the case of Japan, where, unsurprisingly, the iPhone seems to have taken off). A lot of it seems to be in the category of useless bells and whistles that serve the needs of gadget nerds, not real-life, day-to-day users.
Quote:
Originally Posted by paulalex
If there are any comments about 'the iPhone is a failure' with regards to Korea, it won't be because Korean phones are 'advanced,' but rather because of regulatory limitations and misinformation on behalf of the Korean government, telecos, and local cell-phone makers (Samsung, LG) towards Apple.
If there are any comments about 'the iPhone is a failure' with regards to Korea, it won't be because Korean phones are 'advanced,' but rather because of regulatory limitations and misinformation on behalf of the Korean government, telecos, and local cell-phone makers (Samsung, LG) towards Apple.
I imagine that the iPhone has been used in S. Korea since the start via the grey market. Do you know the prices of these unlocked devices?
edit: Here is a posting saying that IMEI, each phone's serial number on the mobile network, is closely monitored to prevent grey market devices. This can be spoofed but some countries consider this a serious crime.
o
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost...0&postcount=10 If that is true then the iPhone may do very well there, even at a premium price, which I am sure it will be do the high tariffs on foreign goods if it's not already saturated with cheaper iPhones.Latest Apple Headlines
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I thought that S. Korea was all CDMA?