iphone to take Korea by storm
I’m salivating.
Seriously.
MK reports that the much anticipated iphone release in Korea is scheduled for July.
About 3 months ago I went out looking for a new ‘smart’ phone and found that most ‘smart’ phones available in Korea are really rather dumb. While Haptic from Samsung Electronics has a nice, sleek design, and the LG cookie phone is cute, the content developed by manufacturers and service providers was severely lacking in my humble opinion.
I hope to see the iphone take Korea by storm. With such a large portion of the youth population not only familiar with web 2.0 technology but also with programming, I am optimistic about the application development market in Korea. I hope this platform is the next big thing for Korean nerds so they can showcase their innovation.
I also believe that millions of Koreans – my guess is around 5-6 million – will switch over. This will be huge for KT (formerly KTF) as I think they will take significant market share from SK in the venture. I hope that Apple will stick to its guns and remain with KT exclusively, at least for a while. This is total conjecture, but I’m guessing that the thing that’s been holding the phone’s release up – aside from government regulation, is the pricing arrangement with KT. Although subsidised mobile phone pricing has been available in Korea for some time, companies tend not to offer steep discounts on more popular models.
The pricing model is what I think will make this deal a game changer. A Korean friend of mine who purchased a new cellphone only a month ago is already planning on making switch. Korean consumers change handsets more frequently than consumers anywhere. SK will lose many, many subscribers in this battle. It will be interesting to see what they do to compensate.
One thing I am interested in is how the phone will be marketed. This is where Apple needs to be careful of being too hot-headed. A little market localization is in order. They definately need some local star power… someone not too expensive, but relevant and sofisticated. Hmmm….And in addition to TV and internet, they also need some event marketing. I hope they don’t blow this. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime.
Once I get my grubby paws on one of these things, and after allowing significant enough time to gauge the market response, I intend to write up a full review from the Korean consumer perspective.
