Jung’s remarks send Twitter circuits abuzz

By Kim Tong-hyung

Staff reporter

South Korea is the scene of a proxy battle between Samsung Electronics and Apple, fought by SK Telecom and KT, the country's biggest wireless carriers, which are locked in a cut-throat smartphone competition.

Drawing first blood was KT, the industry runner-up that has been on a tear in the market for premium devices since late last year after acquiring Apple's iPhone, which has easily become the sexiest consumer brand here.

However, SK Telecom, not intending to sit quietly by, has responded by launching a slew of handsets powered by the Google-backed Android operating system, considered the mobile industry's best bet to challenge Apple's supremacy in consumer smartphones.

SK Telecom's claim that it has more and better devices than KT, which looks increasingly like a one-trick pony, is backed by its tightened partnership with Samsung, which is failing to hide its unwavering wrath toward KT for going down the iPhone route.

SK Telecom's go-to-device is the Android-based Galaxy S, which represents Samsung Electronics' latest attempt at an ``iPhone killer,'' a product that KT would love to have but is obviously not getting.

Tirelessly promoting the virtues of Galaxy S has been Jung Man-won, chief executive of SK Telecom, who claims the carrier won't be accepting Apple products unless it improves its repair and after-sales support services. As a result, the straight-speaking executive finds himself a target of attacks in technology and social networking sites where Apple fanatics seem to reign.

Meeting with reporters recently, Jung said SK Telecom will raise its sales targets for smartphones from 2 million to 2.5 million for 2010, apparently inspired by the bright start for the Galaxy S, which the carrier managed to sell more than 300,000 of in less than three weeks after its release.

While the iPhone continues to get much of the love from consumers, Jung claimed that business users predominantly prefer the Galaxy S, as Android devices provide further freedom in developing and using enterprise applications.

``Has any company selected the iPhone as its corporate device? The Galaxy S, on the other hand, has already been picked up by a variety of companies, as the Android platform allows any body to develop and delete programs freely,'' Jung said.

``The closed nature of the iPhone is a letdown for corporate users. A firm develops an in-house program for employees to use, but could only do so if another company (Apple) approves it. This is the truth about the iPhone,'' he said, although Apple would say that Jung's claims aren't exactly true as it provides an enterprise program for deploying proprietary in-house applications.

Jung's comments drew a stir in the blogosphere that appears to be happily cast under an Apple spell. Judging from a slew of postings on the Web, mobile users are clearly wishing for Apple products from SK Telecom, whether it be the new iPhone 4 or the iPad tablet computer.

``You have to wonder whether Jung Man-won has a clear understanding of what consumers want,'' posted one Twitter user.

Schooled by the iPhone in its own backyard has clearly been a stinging experience for Samsung, which despite being the world's second-largest handset vendor behind Nokia, is reduced to an also-ran in the lucrative smartphone market.

Samsung has been desperate to create a smartphone that could pass the coolness test of global tech geeks, and the Galaxy S represents its latest and most ambitious attempt.

Of course, it is SK Telecom's job to convince local mobile users that the Galaxy S is indeed the device to have and prevent them from flocking to KT's upcoming iPhone 4, the newest version of Apple's do-it-all handset which is equally garnering praise and criticism after its release in the United States, Western Europe and Japan.

Jung's verbal backing of the Galaxy S is matched by KT Chairman Lee Suk-chae's heavy accolades for the iPhone. Lee's comments also reflect the carrier's frustration with Samsung, which has been refusing to give KT the best of its handsets and also slow to provide sufficient software support for its existing devices sold by the carrier. The thinning of its smarpthone lineup is a major concern for KT, which fears for the possibility of Apple going multicarrier for the iPhone 4 and beyond.

``The absence of the Galaxy S doesn't affect our efforts to be loved more by our customers,'' Lee said.