Mobile in Korea

Battle between 3G Network and Wi-Fi

(my2pac) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:50:32 +0900

As the adoption rate of smartphone has drastically increased since the last year, the two major mobile operators, including SK Telecom and KT, have come up with various measures to deal with the situations. Interestingly, two companies are going separate ways.

In order to handle the sudden demand of mobile data traffic, KT concentrates on Wi-Fi network. Comparing their Wi-Fi network coverage with SKT’s Wi-Fi Coverage through TV commercials, KT promotes their superior Wi-Fi network and tries to appeal to potential customers who have plans to buy smartphones. Actually, the number of KT’s national Wi-Fi hotspots is 30,000, while SKT has only 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots. In my opinion, this strategy comes from KT’s inherent position, the first Korean fixed telecommunication operator. KT has a wide coverage of fixed broadband network and is able to install Wi-Fi hotspots anywhere more easily rather than competitors.

On the other hand, SKT focuses on 3G Network to handle the increasing mobile data traffic. According to its recent announcement, SK Telecom reinforced their 3G data network by expanding their frequency assignments from 4FA to 6FA and allotted 3FA into mobile data services. Additionally, SK Telecom announced they will commercialize LTE (3.9G) network in the incoming July. Even after SK Telecom decided that they would concentrate on 3G network, they have also tried to strengthen their Wi-Fi network. Until 2009, SK Telecom’s Wi-Fi network was very weak, but they have built 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and have an additional plan to increase the hotspots by 45,000 in 2011.

Nobody knows whether which operator’s strategy is better, but I think smartphone users will eventually depend on mobile network rather than Wi-Fi network. If we only use our smartphone indoor, Wi-Fi network would be sufficient for our smartphone usages. However, we have many applications which we usually use on street. For instance, when I wait for a bus on street, I use an application which shows the estimated time of bus arrival. In order to use this kind of services, I cannot find any active Wi-Fi hotspot.

In 2010, the total number of smartphone subscribers was 7 million, and the number will be expected to reach to 20 million in 2010. Eventually, the data traffic will also increase drastically. 2011 will be the new beginning year to prove which player’s strategy is better.

SK Telecom's TV Commercial

KT's TV Commercial

KT will launch their own exclusive smartphone.

(my2pac) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:46:26 +0900

KT (Korea Telecom) announced that they would launch an exclusive smartphone next month. The handset is based on Google Android froyo (Android ver 2.2) and will be produced by KT Tech, a subsidiary of KT.

Even though KT provides Apple's iPhone exclusively in Korea, they are suffering from sourcing various smartphones because of the iPhone. As KT pushed iPhone to the market, the other mobile handset manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics was reluctant to provide KT with their brand-new Android smartphones. KT might need more smartphone line-up beyond iPhone in order to compete their competitor, SK Telecom. Collaborating intensively with Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom has defended well the KT-Apple's attack in the Korea's market. Under this circumstance, KT seems to reinforce their handset line-up with their own smartphone.

The spec of the smartphone seems to be excellent. It is equipped with the newest version of Android OS. Additionally, they strengthened the performance of the battery by adopting a high-performing battery of 1,590 mAh. (iPhone's - 1,418 mAh & Galaxy S - 1,500mAh) This point allowed many smartphone users to be satisfied with the usage time of the smartphone.

This year was a tipping point for the adoption rate of smartphone in the Korean mobile industry. In December 2009, around three to four percent of total mobile subscribers had smartphones, but the number of smartphone subscribers drastically increased, reaching to around 5 mil. Also, SK Telecom will launch around five smartphones until the late this year and KT will launch around six to seven smartphones this year. I expect that the number of smartphone subscribers would increase more drastically next year and reach to over 10 mil.

The impacts of unlimited data plan

(my2pac) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:16:19 +0900

Since SK Telecom announced to introduce unlimited data plans in the last July, the other mobile operators such as KT and LG U+ also followed SK Telecom. All mobile operators in Korea provide customers with unlimited data plans.

This change allowed smartphone subscribers to use diverse mobile application without any concern about additional fees. For instance, in my case, I enjoy listening to musics on my way to office every morning by using a streaming music service of Melon. Additionally, I sometimes use the tethering my smartphone, Galaxy S, provides, checking my e-mail and enjoying Web-surfing.

According to SK Telecom, around 80% of total smartphone users (over two million) subscribed the unlimited data plans and average new customers of 17,000 subscribes the unlimited plans everyday. Additionally, around 0.9 million people visited T Store, an mobile application market SK Telecom provides, and download various applications. The unlimited data plans initiated to change the people's behaviors to use mobile services.

However, there are also some concerns about the unlimited data plans. Many people sometimes complain that they sometimes experience the bad qualities of mobile voice services. Even though mobile operators insist that the increasing mobile traffic does not make any impact on the quality of voice service, many experts indicate that the unlimited data plans might be the root cause of lowering the qualities of voice services. According to the Korea Communication Commission, the total traffic of 3G data increased by about 200% compared with the same period of the last year. In July, KT recorded 344% increase, SK Telecom did 232% and LG U+ did 114%.

Recently, other global mobile operators including Verizon and T-Mobile announced that they would stop the unlimited data plans. However, the Korean mobile operators chose the opposite strategic direction. They seem to need alternative ways to compensate the defects withing several months.

Social Commerce in Korea

(my2pac) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:01:26 +0900

The growth rate of social commerce in Korea is very fast. Around sixty companies provide social commerce services and the market size is expected to become $30 mil in the late this year. Three companies among those companies are attracting public attentions, so I introduce the companies briefly.

Ticket Monster (http://www.ticketmonster.co.kr)

Ticket Monster has the biggest market share of 20% in the Korean social commerce market. Even though it was established in May 2010, it has already generated $7 mil for five months. Its business model is very similar to Groupon's. When a user visits the web-site, the user could choose one area among twelve areas. And the Ticket Monster sell only one product of the area per a day with around 50% discount price.

Daily Pick (http://www.dailypick.co.kr/)

Daily Pick maintains the second position in the market. They focus on a small restaurant located in hot places of Seoul. Even though their revenue size is a little small because of the characteristics of their target product, they record enormous page views everyday. When they post a new product, the product is usually sold out at noon or early afternoon. For instance, they posted a discount coupon for a Korean traditional chicken place and 2,000 customers bought the coupon until one PM.

We Make Price (http://www.wemakeprice.com)

As its name, 'We Make Price' provide customers with very cheap products which many people could be enthusiastic on. Even though it was launched on 8th October, it already became a major social commerce provider. For instance, when they launch the service on 8th October, they sold the Everland ticket (a Korea's famous theme park) with 60% discount price, attracting 100,000 customers. They marked a day revenue of $1.5 mil. It is very awesome record compared with the average day revenue of around $0.1 mil usual social commerce providers make.

SKT’s breakthrough for data business leadership

(my2pac) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:18:37 +0900

On 14th July, SK Telecom announced new policies regarding unlimited data plans and mobile VoIP.

SKT’s CEO is announcing several changes regarding their service at SKT's headquarter building.

Many smart-phone users have complained SKT’s operational directions for several years and praised KT by the reason that KT tries a lot of innovations, including launch of iPhone in Korea and offering of their Wi-Fi network to KT’s users. In order to break the prejudice, SK Telecom tried to change many small things. For instance, in January 2010, SK Telecom announced that they would install Wi-Fi network and open the netwok to all people, including SK Telecom’s subscribers and competitors’ subscribers. However, these small tries were not able to change the negative atmosphere surrounding SK Telecom among smart-phone users.

This time, SK Telecom made a big decision. SK Telecom decided to allow customers use their 3G mobile network (WCDMA) in case that customers subscribe price plans which monthly fee are over 55,000 won - around 50 USD. SKT’s new decision created a sensation among Korean smart-phone users. At many online communities regarding smart-phone, many people acclaimed SK Telecom’s new decision.

Globally, most of mobile operators are reluctant to provide unlimited data plans because this plans might cause severe overloads on their mobile networks. Before SKT’s decision, all Korean mobile operators also had policies that make customers use mobile data services within limited network traffics. LG U+ (former LG Telecom) has provided monthly amount of data traffic the most aggressively. KT has supplemented customers’ data usages with their Wi-Fi network and is maintaining a policy to use both 3G mobile network and Wi-Fi network in order to meet their customers’ data usage needs. In early this year, SK Telecom also seemed to pursue a similar strategy to utilize both 3G network and Wi-Fi network.

However, SK Telecom seems to turn their direction of strategy completely with this week’s announcement. I think that SKT’s new strategic direction will make its competitors such as KT and LG U+ be worried about their strategies about mobile data services. I think that it is very hard for KT to make similar strategies, because KT does not have sufficient network capacity to cover their all subscribers’ usage. Reactions of KT and LG U+ will be very interesting point in the half of this year.

As well as unlimited usage of 3G mobile network, SK Telecom allowed mobile VoIP on WCDMA network. This change is evaluated as an innovative decision. Because allowing mobile VoIP might cause cannibalization to SK Telecom’s voice revenue. Since KT launched their new brand for 3G service in March of 2007, SK Telecom has maintained defensive stances regarding disruptive services. Many people criticized SKT’s defensive strategies. However, I think SK Telecom might get out of the passive images by this new plan about mobile VoIP. In addition, Korean people seem to be able to use Skype or Google Voice on their smart-phones and save their communication costs.

I hope SK Telecom’s changes can become an inflection point of evolution and development of Korean mobile industry. As many people use mobile data services freely, more innovative mobile data services can appear in this dynamic market.

New Mobile Operator in Korea

(my2pac) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:14:00 +0900

Currently, there are three mobile operators in Korea, SK Telecom, KT and LG Telecom. A new mobile operator will launch their mobile service in July of next year. KMI (Korea Mobile Internet) submitted the application for providing their own service to the Korean Communications Commission on 11th June.

They announced to build up WiBro (Mobile WiMAX) network and provide VoIP service based on WiBro and mobile broadband service next year. In Korea, SK Telecom and KT are already providing WiBro service, but they only cover mobile broadband service, not voice (VoIP) service on WiBro network. Also, KMI said that they will focus on MVNO business, so customers can use cheaper mobile services rather than the existing providers' services.

The major shareholders of KMI includes Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electronics is expected to provide WiBro network equipments instead of invest in KMI directly. KMI mentioned that about twenty companies participated in the investment, but they did not disclose the list of the companies this time.

To be honest, I am not sure whether they can make a soft-landing in the Korean mobile market as a new service provider which has a starting capital of 410 bil won (around $0.35 bil). Above all, They need about $2 bil to build up the nationwide WiBro coverage. Also, in the Korean mobile market, the existing three mobile operators such as SK Telecom, KT and LG Telecom poured marketing expenses of around $8 bil into the market for 2009. It may be asked whether they can bear the attack of the other mobile operators in the saturated mobile market.

New Digital Signage Service at Seoul Subway Stations

(my2pac) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:30:46 +0900

Do you remember a mall scene of Minority Report? If you can’t remember it, watch the below video-clip.

I sometimes wonder whether it will be possible to witness similar situations near myself in ten or twenty years. By the way, I was very surprised by the fact that I have been already exposed to a lot of digital signage at mall, convenience store, theater and subway. After recognizing this, I researched the current market size of Korean digital signage. Although I am not sure it is exact forecast, according to many Korea’s media estimate, the size of the Korean digital signage market will be an estimated $100 mil this year. I expect that more various and interesting digital signage services will appear in a few years.

Today, I want to introduce a unique digital signage which is provided at subway stations of Seoul, Korea. The name of the digital signage is “Digital View’ and it is provided by Daum (a major Korean internet portal) and Finger Touch. Refer to the below picture.

People in Seoul can see this big device at every subway station. According to the service provider, they already installed 913 devices at 117 stations. This device has two touch-panel screens, 42” main screen and 17” supplementary screen. The main screen shows a lot of information, including Seoul subway map, real-time news and entertainment content. In addition, people can use VoIP service using the small touch-panel screen. The VoIP service is currently provided for free and it is expected that this service will be a paid-service later. I took some pictures of this new device and described the details of each picture.

The big screen provides information and the small one provides VoIP service.

The bottom area of the main screen shows the overall menu of the service. They provide Seoul subway map, real-time service such as news and weather, coupon which is available at nearby restaurants and shops, tour information and the information about the station.

The real-time services are provided by Daum, an internet portal. Real-time news, weather and other information are shown on the device.

Also, you can check cinema information, schedules & results of sports games and stock market news.

In addition, you can see the satellite photo map near the subway station and other transportation information such as buses nearby the station.

Daum also provides their popular map service, "RoadView", to the new digital device. "RoadView" service is a new-type of map which shows every roads' pictures like the above picture.

Many Changes led by iPhone

(my2pac) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:13:22 +0900

Since KT launched iPhone in November of 2009, the Korean mobile market has experienced a lot of changes. Above all, when I am on my way to work everyday, I am able to witness many people who are doing something with their iPhone. As well as the rapid increase of iPhone users, iPhone has made many changes in an interesting Asian market.

1. The rise of smartphone

According to TrendMonitor (http://www.trendmonitor.co.kr), the Korean consumers' interest about smartphone is drastically increasing in 2010. At their same consumer research which was surveyed in April of 2009, 37% of 1,000 prospective consumers had intentions to buy smartphones, but about 68% responded that they have strong intentions to buy smartphone at this year's same research. This result shows a tremendous change of Korean mobile handset market. Although smartphone users have steadily increased in the global market, only early adopters have chose smartphones in the Korean market. Most of people have used feature phones and Korean mobile operators have also pushed feature phones to their market and customers. However, the iPhone opened the impregnable fortress against smartphone. Since the last November, around 0.7 mil Korean people chose iPhone. As well as iPhone, other smartphones also got good grades. For instance, KT's strong competitor, SK Telecom attracted around 0.6 mil new subscribers with Samsung Omnia 2. According to KT's research institute, there would be 4.9mil smartphone subscribers - about 10% of total mobile subscribers - in the late this year. Also, 20% of total subscribers will use smartphones in 2011 and 33% in 2012.

2. Good fight of foreign manufacturers' handsets

The rise of smartphone made another change in the Korean market. This is that foreign handset manufacturers began fighting well against strong Korean manufacturers such as Samsung and LG. Until 2009, the Korean mobile handset market was dominated by pure Korean players, including Samsung, LG and Pantech. Motorola was only one foreign manufacturer has survived in the Korean market. However, iPhone gave other foreign players wonderful opportunities to go into the Korean market. As KT attacks SK Telecom with their exclusive iPhone, SK Telecom selected a strategy that they target smartphone-friendly consumers with a lot of types of smartphone. According to SKT's announcement about their smartphone lineup from April through June, they will launch ten smartphones and six of them will be supplied by foreign manufacturers, including HTC, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson and RIM. This change makes the existing rulers such as Samsung and LG get be nervous about the situation. I believe that the new tension in this saturated market will become a new starting point of new innovation and development.

SK Telecom's prospective smartphone lineup

3. New spotlight on Wi-Fi

Until 2009, Nespot, KT's Wi-Fi hotspot service, was a nuisance of KT. Since 2002 when KT launched this service, Nespot has barely survived. For several years, KT had been maintaining around 0.3 to 0.4 mil subscribers. I think that this service might be under a severe deficit operation for the last several years. However, since KT released iPhone, they repositioned the Wi-Fi hotspot service as a complementary network of mobile networks such as WCDMA. They provided free Wi-Fi services to iPhone users and utilized the strategy as a marketing communication tool. Also, KT announced that they will invest more money to build up Wi-Fi zones from currently 16,000 spots to 30,000 spots. As a result, their competitor, SK Telecom decided to build about 10,000 Wi-Fi zones named T-Zone and open this network freely to all people, including their competitors' customers as well as their own customers. In near future, Korean people might be able to use free public Wi-Fi service everywhere.

SKT-Samsung Vs. KT-LG

(my2pac) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:32:48 +0900

Today, LG Electronics announced that they will launch the first Android phone in late February through KT. Even though LG has the second position in the Korean mobile handset market, they had no Android phone in order to counterattack the other handset providers such as Apple, Samsung and Motorola. Their new Android handset is based on the European version 'LG GW620.' They customized this modem for Korean market.

By the way, Samsung already announced that they will launch their Android phone in March through SK Telecom. LG's decision means that war for Korean Android market might begin between SKT-Samsung and KT-LG.

Anyway, I think 2010 will be an important turning point for spread of smartphone, including iPhone and many Android phones. I will frequently report the interim result of various smartphones.

iPhone is a driving force to increase the adoption rate of smartphone.

(my2pac) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:37:59 +0900

iPhone became a hot trendy item for young Korean people. Since KT launched iPhone in the Korean market, around 300,000 people bought this hot item. iPhone is making many changes in using mobile services. For instance, people who bought iPhone subscribed the data price plan very naturally. Also, many people began using various data-based mobile services such as mobile twitter in every place, including street and subway.

Among many changes, I think the most important thing is that iPhone became a key driver to increase the adoption rate of smartphone in the Korea's market. As well as iPhone, Samsung also sold Omnia 2 to around 300,000 people. Also, SK Telecom officially releases the first Android smartphone on 5th Feb and announced to release around 10 smartphone this year.

Smartphone does not mean only the change of the handset feature. The increased adoption of smartphone will make the change of the usage pattern for mobile services. Before the launch of iPhone, usual Korean people were reluctant about subscribing the mobile data plan seperately and usual retail channels push the plan intetionally when selling handsets. This point was the biggest barrier that mobile data service market could grow. Currently, the change is starting in this advanced mobile market.

I will post the further changes which will be made by smartphone including iPhone and Android phone.