 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
The mobile phone industry in South Korea consists of domestic network infrastructure provision and the production of consumer mobile handsets.
History
Car phone era
In 1984, Korea Mobile Telecommunications Service, a subsidiary of Korea Telecom which was later renamed to SK Telecom, started its mobile communications service with the car phone.
Mobile phone era
Consumer devices
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2023) |
Network and service developments
- 1988, Korea Mobile Telecommunications Service started South Korea's first mobile phone service.
- 1996, Korea Mobile Telecommunications Service started the world's first cdmaOne service in Incheon. In the same year, Korea Telecom Freetel (KTF), which later merged with Korea Telecom, its parent company, began its service.
- 1997, Korea Mobile Telecommunications Service was sold to SK Group and changed its name to SK Telecom. In the same year, LG Telecom started its business.
- 2002, Korea Telecom Freetel merged Internet companies invested by Samsung Group and became KTF.
Smartphone era
Consumer devices
In 2009, KT was the first network to introduce the iPhone to South Korea. The origins of South Korea's domestic smartphone production industry can be traced to Samsung's release of their first smartphone, a reaction to Apple's iPhone, which was well-received by the South Korean population.
Later, as the smartphone sector continued to grow, South Korean LG Electronics also joined this competition. Unlike Apple and Samsung, LG's business strategy was to make more affordable devices rather than devices with higher specifications. Eventually, LG shifted to offering phones with a better camera and higher screen quality which increased their cost of goods; however, the sales of their phones did not improve.
LG announced its decision to exit the smart phone market in April, 2021 due to their continued net loss in this sector. Until now, Apple and Samsung have held the largest market shares, with LG trailing behind. Apple tried to capitalize on LG's exit of the smart phone market by advertising its products on LG's displays within markets. Samsung also took this opportunity to offer existing LG customers competitive deals on new Samsung phones such as running trade-in events for used LG smartphones. Competition between the two manufacturers in the South Korean market is still on-going.
Network and service developments
- 2009, KTF merged with Korea Telecom.
- 2010, LG Telecom, LG Dacom, LG Powercom were merged into LG U Plus.
- 2012, KT shut down its 2G services and migrated to a 3G network.
- 2020, SKT shut down its 2G services and migrated to newer generation networks.
- New technology was developed such as WiBro and LTE
Handsets
Domestic production
Current South Korean producers of mobile phones include:
Former South Korean producers of mobile phones include:
- Pantech Curitel - ceased production in 2017
- LG Electronics - ceased production in 2021
Market share (domestic and imported handsets)
Samsung and Apple have the largest market shares in Korea.
Mobile phone service providers
 | This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2023) |
There are three mobile phone service providers and they are currently deploying their 5G networks.
- Korea Telecom (KT) absorbed KT Freetel (KTF) in 2002 and offers services using HSPA and LTE networks.
- SK Telecom (SKT) of SK Group also offers services using HSPA and LTE networks. In 2020 the CDMA2000 network was shut down.
As of 2004 the market shares of the three companies were believed to be: SK Telecom's 50 percent, Korea Telecom's 30 percent and LG Telecom's 20 percent.
Official bodies and technical partnerships
In South Korea, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) is the telecommunications authority.
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) supports Qualcomm's research and development of CDMA and CDMA2000 technology.
Regarding the Korean mobile phone industry's overseas experiences, SK Telecom has helped the first mobile phone service companies in Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, etc. In China, it helped China Unicom's CDMA implementation, both technically and financially.
See also
- Telecommunications in South Korea
- List of telephone operating companies
- List of mobile network operators
- List of mobile phone makers
- Culture of South Korea: Cellular Phones
References
- "SK telecom". www.sktelecom.com. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
- History of SK Telecom Archived 2010-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Korea Telecom - Company - History
- LG Telecom - About LG telecom - Milestones Archived 2011-07-13 at archive.today
- Katz, Leslie (November 29, 2009). "iPhone officially lands in South Korea". CNET. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
- Schuhmacher, Alexander (2014-12-14), Can Innovation Still Be the Main Growth Driver of the Pharmaceutical Industry?, Perspectives on Sustainable Growth, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 39–68, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-12526-8_2, ISBN 978-3-319-12525-1, S2CID 166817557, retrieved 2021-12-11
- Park, Yuri; Koo, Yoonmo (April 2016). "An empirical analysis of switching cost in the smartphone market in South Korea". Telecommunications Policy. 40 (4): 307–318. doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2016.01.004. ISSN 0308-5961.
- Kim, Pyungho (July 2011). "The Apple iPhone Shock in Korea". The Information Society. 27 (4): 261–268. doi:10.1080/01972243.2011.583826. ISSN 0197-2243. S2CID 5212833.
- "Pantech to close smartphone business". Yonhap News Agency. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- "LG to pull out of mobile phone market". The Guardian. 2021-04-05. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- Three Korean mobile phone service providers (in Japanese, 2004)
External links
- Korea Telecom official site (Korean & English)
- LG U Plus official site(Korean & English)
- SK Telecom official site (Korean & English)
