The “Androboi,” left, will be SK Telecom’s new symbol for its handsets and software content based on the Google-backed Android operating system. Korean mobilephone operators and handset vendors are leaping on the Android bandwagon, with Samsung Electronics unveiling a smartphone last week designed to run on Android 2.1, the latest version of the operating system, and also to support video calls and mobile television, two features that Apple’s iPhone isn’t providing. / Korea Times |
Korea Becomes Smartphone Battlefield for Apple, Google
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Google and Apple are entangled in a bitter turf war in mobile search and smartphone technologies, and it appears that Korea's leading technology companies will have a lot at stake in the fight.
The combination of SK Telecom, the country's biggest mobile carrier, and Samsung Electronics, the leading mobile-phone manufacturer, has dominated the market for years ― SK Telecom controls more than half of the country's wireless subscribers and Samsung had been getting the lion's share in a virtual handset duopoly with LG Electronics.
However, KT, the runner-up mobile-phone operator, has been putting up a convincing challenge against the status quo after gaining the iPhone, Apple's do-it-all smartphone that is currently the planet's hottest gadget, as a weapon.
The KT-Apple combo is proving to be a devastating force, with nearly 300,000 iPhones picked up from the shelves since the local release late last year.
This has SK Telecom and Samsung scrambling to defend their top positions in the hierarchy, and both are convinced that the Google-backed Android operating system would be their best bet to fight back the iPhone onslaught.
SK Telecom launches a full-scale marketing effort for its Android handsets and software content this week, with a friendly-looking green robot dubbed as ``Androboi,'' modeled after Android's official trademark, introduced as the symbol of the lineup.
And Samsung last week unveiled its first Android-based smartphone designed for the local market. The phone will be sold through SK Telecom starting in March, complementing the Motorola Motoroi, which will become the first Android handset released in Korea when it comes out later this week.
SK Telecom plans to release 15 new smartphone models this year, including 13 that run on the Android operating system. KT is also looking to release five or six Android-based smartphones this year, while LG Telecom, the smallest of the country's three mobile carriers, is also expected to leap on the bandwagon.
The popularity of Android devices is expected to pick up once Google opens the Korean version of the Android Market, which allows mobile users to download software applications for their Android-based handsets.
Google has been talking with the Game Rating Board, Korea's rating board for video game content, to agree on a reviewing process for games provided locally through the Android Market, and the online applications store will be open to local users soon.
``The market for Android phones will become visible starting next month, and will gain speed as the content pool gains in wealth,'' said an official from SK Telecom, which also plans to have software programs on its T-World online applications store enabled on its Android-based smartphones.
``The focus of competition has clearly moved from feature-phones to smartphones, and we believe that the Android phones will establish themselves as central devices.''
Smartphones work more like handheld computers than conventional phones, supporting Web browsing, e-mail, games and a wealth of multimedia features aside of voice.
They have been a hard sell in Korea in the past years, with consumers put off by their outrageous prices, clunky user interfaces and lack of software content. However, the introduction of intriguing devices such as the iPhone and Samsung's Omnia II has smartphones now going mass market.
The country had barely 300,000 smartphone users before KT released the iPhone last November, but the market has roughly tripled in the three months since.
Smartphones are critical for mobile-phone carriers, who have yet to gain significant return on their massive third-generation (3G) investments and desperate to milk their users for more data revenue to make up for the decline in voice sales.
Handset vendors like Samsung and LG Electronics are banking on smartphones, as they provide higher margins than conventional handsets. Although Samsung trails only Nokia as the world's No. 2 handset vendor overall, with a global share of over 20 percent, it is only the No. 5 brand in smartphones with just around a 3 percent share of the segment.
The Android platform, developed by a cross-industry alliance led by Internet giant Google, is based on open source Linux software and enables greater flexibility for programmers building applications and features tailored to handsets. Currently, the Open Handset Alliance, which leads the Android platform development, has 47 member companies, including handset vendors, mobile-phone operators and chipmakers, with the notable exceptions being Apple and Nokia.
Apple has been dominating the smartphone war recently with the iPhone and App Store, its online applications service.
This has electronics makers and wireless carriers desperately seeking ways to beat Apple at its own game, and so far, the Android operating system has been gaining hype as the next big thing in mobile services.
Although the iPhone is garnering a major chunk of smartphone mobile traffic, Google is hoping that the Android platform will emerge as a formidable contender in the following years and allow it to gain the lead.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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