By Oh Young-jin
KT is not what it was a couple years ago. The second largest mobile carrier, whose business roots date back to the days of fixed-line services under state control, is as vibrant as ever, leading the way in the era of smartphones.
What has caused the change? It would be hard to deny that at the heart of KT’s change is its Chairman Lee Suk-chae, who served as a senior bureaucrat at the last stage of the development dictatorship, who brought in the iPhone.
Lee’s right-hand man in forging ahead with KT’s iPhone revolution is Pyo Hyun-myung, a 52-year-old with a Ph.D. in electronic engineering from Korea University, who works as president of KT’s Mobile Business Group. KT has another president who is in charge of the fixed line business.
Since he has played a key role in the introduction of the iPhone to Korea, the first question to be asked during a recent interview was about Apple’s after-sale service, which is the subject of considerable griping. The second was whether KT is preparing for the postiPhone era. Considering the nature of the two questions, Pyo’s answer to the first proved to be clear-cut.
“It is about where the majority of consumers place their value on, in this case, between the product and ancillary benefits after it is sold,” Pyo said.
Pyo’s logic goes that Samsung Electronics is far better in terms of after-sale services than any other company in the world, and that is contributing to its product sales. Apple is different from Samsung. It obviously opts more aggressively for product quality (Pyo didn’t say that Samsung is less attentive) in aftersale services.
“It all comes down to consumers’ choices,” he said, pointing at Apple’s lofty sales figures.
Besides, Pyo takes note of the policy difference Apple has over its competitors.
Apple’s i-products are available in over 90 countries all over the world and Apple receives customers’ feedback on a regular basis. It is not true to say Apple doesn’t pay as much attention as other mobile makers but the iPhone maker is selective in picking and choosing what is to be re-addressed because any updates apply to all products it sells all over the world.
“Samsung, for instance, varies from one country to another,” Pyo said.
Besides, the KT president says that the portrayal of Apple and its CEO as a dictator doesn’t do them justice, because some requests made by KT have been reflected in its features. One such instance is Wi-Fi, which, despite being in wider use in Korea than in other countries, has been adopted as a standard iPhone feature.
So KT has all love but no beef about its relationship with Apple. If Pyo had it, he didn’t say it. But he is thinking about post-Apple days.
Pyo proved to be a passionate talker to the point that he didn’t pay attention to his eyes becoming red obviously due to fatigue. The subjects he covered touched on the past, present and future of the information technology industry as well as his company, with some of the jargon he used being quite new to those in the business.
One is the wholesale applications community (WAC). WAC’s concept is interesting as if it were a fantasy novel that pits a villain against the hero. Leading this WAC drive is KT, of course, which Pyo thinks will play the role of hero, or at least part of it.
Guess who would be the villain? It’s needless to say that it would be Apple.
Basically, WAC is a marketplace, according to one KT official who was present during the Pyo interview, where everybody is invited to buy and sell applications.
WAC is being given flesh and bones by mobile carriers who have been squeezed out of Apple-led application services.
Apple shares proceeds from applications use only with developers, making those that pass its muster available on its exclusive iOS operating system.
Now, mobile carriers, excluding Apple, want to get a piece of the action plus part of the profits from applications, opening the marketplace up for all developers who want to sell their ware.
Two key challenges stand in the way of WAC’s success.
First, it is standardization. Right now, the Android OS is emerging as the base.
Second, more importantly, skepticism prevailing in the camp against Apple, being somewhat made diffident by Apple’s success.
According to Pyo, it is a battle of free market versus a closed one. History shows that free marketers have won the war, even though the outcome differs from one battle to another. But this Apple against non-Apple war may be different.
“We have the numbers,” Pyo said, talking about the nations that have joined WAC covering the numbers of customers who hold Android phones.
“Will we be able to beat Apple?” was the question asked of Pyo.
He didn’t say that he sees Apple as a foe and Android as a friend. Although he didn’t say it out loud, Pyo’s reluctance to comment appears to reflect a close battle.