iPhone officially lands in South Korea

A month after Apple started selling its iPhone in China, the device expanded its Asian reach Saturday with a much-heralded launch in South Korea.

In keeping with the tradition of waiting in line for hours in advance of an iPhone launch, hundreds queued up overnight outside the Olympic stadium in Seoul to snag the smartphone as soon as it officially landed amid blaring music and strobe lights. The hoopla appeared to far trump the phone's more subdued arrival in China, where it launched in the October cold and rain to smaller-than-expected crowds.

(Credit: Apple)

KT Corp, South Korea's second largest mobile carrier (after SK Telecom) and the local distributor of the iPhone, says about 65,000 people have preordered the device, which hit the South Korean market two months after the government approved its sale.

Mobile penetration in South Korea is high--an estimated 93 percent of the country's population subscribes to a mobile service--but smartphones have yet to take off there due to cost, lack of apps, and high data rates by mobile carriers.

"We're hoping that this iPhone will be a trigger point for the smartphone market in Korea," said Yang Hyun-mi, chief strategy officer at KT Corp, according to the Canadian Press. Smartphones make up just 1 percent of all cell phones in South Korea, she said.

KT is pricing the 32GB iPhone 3GS at 396,000 won ($338) for customers who subscribe with a monthly service fee of 45,000 won (about $38). Customers who subscribe with a monthly fee of 65,000 won ($55) can get the phone for 264,000 won ($225). And premium users who sign up for monthly plans based on a 132,000 won ($113) basic rate can get the phone for free.

An 8GB iPhone, meanwhile, can be had for 132,000 won for subscribers signed on the 45,000 won monthly plans.

KT projects that iPhone sales will fall anywhere 200,000 to 500,000 units, a showing that's widely expected to shake up the country's mobile market. For years, the Korea Communications Commission used technical rules to stifle competition, allowing homegrown giants like Samsung and LG Electronics to take over the market, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Indeed, in good news for cost-conscious consumers, Samsung has already slashed the price of its 8GB Omnia 2 smartphone by 44,000 won ($37.50) to 924,000 won ($788).

Watch a South Korean iPhone television spot below.

[mathcreative]

Interesting the Iphone's GUI is in english in the video

[Mr. Dee]

I read a comment from one of the early buyers on Canada.com they are buying the iPhone to learn English :-s You could do that by purchasing a copy of Rosetta Stone for your computer.

[Random_Walk]

...true, but you'd have a pretty hard time using your Rosetta Stone app to call someone, play games, etc.

[Gold_Storm_Mac]

heard iPod in the ad.

[Dani210]

i think the ad is pretty funny, and i didn't understand a word they said...

[rats4you]

Funny they should land in South Korea and they still have not made it to SOUTH DAKOTA!

[extotherule]

South Dakota? with a population of 804k?<br />South Korean 48 MILLION.<br /><br />and then look at population density, I would target South Korea over South Dakota all day long.<br /><br />And don't get me started on North Dakota

[Random_Walk]

1) South Dakota is the armpit of the planet... Outer Mongolia has a higher population density ;)<br /><br />2) Don't fret, there's good news for you: http://puc.sd.gov/Alltel-ATT/default.aspx

[Constable Odo]

More bison and certainly prairie dogs than people live in South Dakota. Why would Apple want to sell iPhones there? Apple seems to be targeting areas where the population is really large. Let's see, if South Dakota has a population of about 800,000 or so and you count out the elderly and the really young, you might be left with about 400,000 people and if you don't count the Indians and possibly poor AT&#38;T coverage you may be down to about 50,000 people who would buy iPhones. In Korea, more than that many iPhones were pre-ordered, so I guess there's just no point in targeting South Dakotans. Whoever wanted an iPhone in S.D. would be better served by moving to another state.

[rkstdy]

Apple has nothing to prove in South Dakota. Get a grip. Capitalism is not about nationality. Apple is going to prove to the world that THEY make the top phones. They want to prove to the world that Samsung's marketting is flawed and they can take them on in their home turf. Rumor has it that Samsung racketeers their own home turf in order to create profit margins and balance their sheets. Compare Korean product prices in their own home turf versus the US and other countries, and you will see they up-charge the cost by atleast +10-20+%! It's a good thing IPhone made entry into South Korea. It will make the Korean companies work harder, and by the time the phones reach South Dakota, they will be close to being as polished as a US Marine's ceremony boot.

[Synthmeister]

Yet one more place close by for Chinese to buy gray market iPhones with WiFi.

[Krea_frobro747]

I was at the iPhone launch on Saturday. There were a lot of people there... they had pre-ordered their iPhones online. However, many others were supposed to receive their iPhones via special delivery on Saturday and Today. I've been told that many of those people did not receive their phones on Saturday and that the first shipment of phones into the country was much smaller than KT anticipated.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Additionally, KT excluded all foreigners from reserving an iPhone and being included in the 1,000 lottery at the iPhone Launch Party at Jamsil Stadium. I only saw 1 other foreigner at the iPhone Launch Party... it is interesting that KT and Apple excluded foreigners from this process because foreigners have supported Apple throughout its long, difficult entry into the country... and many foreigners are anxiously awaiting purchase of the phone. Further, foreigners are being excluded from the discounted plans that KT is advertising.<br /><br /> <br /><br />I've visited 3 stores over the weekend (2 KT stores and 1 Apple reseller)... all of them are aware of the iPhones arrival, but have no information on when they will arrive at the stores. All said that December 1st was supposed to be the date, but they hadn't received phones or information. Additionally, they were unsure of how foreigners would be able to purchase the phones, but all stated that it would be impossible for foreigners to receive the discounts that are being announced by KT (I confirmed this with KT headquarters on Friday).<br /><br /> <br /><br />I am under the impression that KT was not prepared for this launch despite having a couple of years to prepare. And, despite KT not being prepared, the iPhone craze in Korea is real.

[codynews]

Cool. Thanks for the 'insider info'.

[MarkAse]

Good for Apple, sounds like they've found another great market given their 3rd party developer business model