New smartphones flood the market this month

Apple’s iPhone 4S, Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, LG’s Prada Phone among the selling smartphone bunch


A number of new smartphones, including the iPhone 4S, will hit the market this month, setting the stage for another round in the smartphone battle in Korea.

Mobile carriers ― SK Telecom and KT Corp. ― are now getting ready to release Apple Inc.’s newest iPhone 4S in the local market as it received radio approval in Korea last week.

According to industry sources, both SKT and KT are developing promotion measures and events on how to garner a greater figure of iPhone 4S owners, considering that they will both be unveiling the gadget sometime this month.

Without elaborating further on their marketing tactics, KT is likely to link the device with its mobile wireless broadband device, which will enable people to connect to the fourth generation communication network for upgraded speed and services.

SKT, on the other hand, is devising strategies, which puts a focus on its strong and better networks, so that it can gain back the number of customers it lost to KT in 2009 and 2010.

KT was the exclusive service provider of the iPhone when it was first introduced, forcing a good portion of SKT subscribers to choose KT for the iPhone.

Other than the iPhone, LG Electronics’ Prada Phone, which will transform into a smartphone from being merely a feature phone, and Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Nexus ― both carried by SKT and KT ― are also aiming to lure more customers this month.

“We’re planning to introduce 12 new smartphones, running on the 3G and 4G networks, by the end of this year,” said a KT official.

The package includes the Nokia Lumia 710, the first Nokia smartphone running on the Microsoft’s latest Windows 7.5 Mango platform.

The device, which will be a smartphone running on KT’s 3G networks, comes with a 1.4 gigahertz processor and is projected to deliver high performance at an affordable price, according to its officials.

But the new introduction of smartphones does not end here as the mobile carriers are currently in the process of unveiling faster smartphones running on the fourth generation Long Term Evolution networks.

SKT has recently unveiled Samsung’s Galaxy S2 LTE and Galaxy S2 HD LTE, HTC Radar 4G and Pantech Vega LTE, while LG Uplus said it sold over 50,000 units of the LG Optimus LTE. LG Uplus is also providing services for the Galaxy S2 HD LTE.

Currently, the number of total LTE phone subscribers is estimated to be about 180,000, according to industry sources. KT has yet to start the 4G LTE services, with the firm expecting to start selling LTE gadgets running on its 4G networks by the end of this year.

On Sunday, the Korea Communications Commission announced that the number of smartphone owners broke the 20 million mark on Oct. 28, indicating that four out of every 10 people in Korea possess what we call a smartphone.

The portion of smartphone owners was merely 1.7 percent in December 2009, shortly after the introduction of the first smartphone iPhone 3GS, but it grew to 14.2 percent a year after in December 2010. The percentage is projected to rise to 42 percent by the yearend.

“If mobile phones were a device designed to make voice calls in the past, it has now become a comprehensive cultural service platform that gives various social and cultural benefits to the users,” said a KCC official.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)