Apple’s top selling iPhone faces one of its biggest challenges yet when it goes on sale this weekend in South Korea, the world’s most wired nation and long accustomed to cutting-edge gadgets.
The iconic smartphone hits stores today having already shifted more than 50,000 units in pre-sale orders, said KT Corp, the country’s second biggest mobile operator and sole iPhone provider.
However, in a country dominated 90 percent by giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, Apple will face stiff competition, a problem made worse by the fact the nation is one of the most advanced technological markets on the planet.
And KT Corp is staying tight-lipped about its sales target due to the phone’s relatively lukewarm response in other Asian launches such as Japan, another high-tech-savvy market.
Analysts are divided over whether the iPhone will become a hit in one of the world’s most advanced mobile phone markets.
Local media say the iPhone will appeal to younger customers in South Korea, where more than 90 percent of people own a cellphone.
Kim Ji-hyun, a market researcher at Daum Communications, forecast KT’s annual sales of the multi-media handset would stand at about 200,000 units.
But Eugene Securities analyst Kim Dong-joon said the launch would simply lead to tougher competition.
“The sale of iPhones is expected to step up the production of smartphones here and competition in the local mobile Internet industry,” he said in a research note.
Samsung Electronics has already slashed the price of its most advanced and expensive phone, an 8-gigabyte touch-screen model called Omnia2, by 44,000 won (US$38) to 924,000 won.
KT set the price of the 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS at 396,000 won for customers who subscribe with a monthly service fee of 45,000 won. The price is 264,000 won for customers who subscribe with a monthly fee of 65,000 won.
KT are staying confident about the phone’s introduction.
“The iPhone has been enjoying great enthusiasm from South Korean customers even before its official launch,” spokesman Kim Cheol-Kee said, adding: “We hope the iPhone will strengthen our competitiveness against other mobile carriers.”
KT’s online store has been visited by 40,000 people a day since it began pre-sales on Sunday and about 53,000 phones have been ordered over the Internet and at shops, KT said.
The company hopes its deal with Apple will dent the dominance of SK Telecom, which has a 50.5 percent share of the market compared with KT’s 31 percent.
“The iPhone has a competitive edge in its price and is more convenient than existing local models, but we are not worried much about its debut,” SK said.
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