아이폰, 한국시장에서 주목받지 못할 전망(BusinessWeek 6/13)

애플의 아이폰 출시에 국내 휴대폰 업계도 잔뜩 긴장하고 있고, 소비자들은 기대에 부풀어있는듯하나 실제로 한국에서는 그리 참신하지 못하는 평입니다. Why Korea Won't Bite the Apple South Korea is proud of its electronics makers and tech-savvy consumers. Samsung and LG won't roll out the welcome mat for the new iPhone 3G 아이폰, 한국 시장에서 주목받지 못할 전망 (BusinessWeek 6/13)

3G 아이폰이 전 세계적으로 주목받고 있지만 한국 시장에서는 크게 각광받기 어려울 것으로 관측됨. 한국 소비자들은 자국 업체인 LG전자와 삼성전자가 끊임없이 선보이는 우수한 디자인과 첨단 기술을 탑재한 멀티미디어폰에 더 많은 관심을 보이고 있기 때문임. 지난 2년간 독특한 디자인의 신제품을 선보이면서 성장한 LG전자는 지난 4월 'Secret'을 공개하는 등 아이폰 출시에 대비해 왔음. 삼성전자도 3G 아이폰 공개 직전 경쟁 제품인 터치스크린 스마트폰 'Omnia'를 공개하고 신형 아이폰과의 경쟁 의지를 표명했음 한국투자증권 애널리스트는 "iPhone이 직관적인 유저 인터페이스를 자랑하지만 기능과 기술 면에서 한국산 제품을 앞서지 못하는 것이 사실"이라고 분석함

BusinessWeek (원문 링크) Telecom June 13, 2008, 8:30AM EST text size: TT South Korea is proud of its electronics makers and tech-savvy consumers. Samsung and LG won't roll out the welcome mat for the new iPhone 3G by Moon Ihlwan Despite the buzz generated by the June 9 unveiling of the first major makeover of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, there's one place on the planet the U.S. brand isn't likely to generate much buzz, at least in the near future: South Korea. The country is one of the most advanced mobile Internet markets in the world, and electronics companies have worked hard to make sure tech-savvy Korean consumers don't fall for foreign brands. This is a place where Nokia (NOK) is virtually absent. Google (GOOG) has struggled in Korea too. Its six-year-old Korean-language search service lags far behind market leader NHN. And while consumers in other countries have embraced the iPod, most Koreans are just not that into Steve Jobs and the work of his Apple designers. Many analysts say the iPhone 3G, the next-generation iPhone (BusinessWeek.com, 6/9/09) with faster Internet access that will sell for as low as $199 (half the current entry-level price), probably won't do the trick either. "Apple can't expect to be acclaimed as a premium brand in Korea," says Thomas Kang at market researcher Strategic Analytics. The big problem for Apple is simple. Koreans are more attracted to phones made by local consumer-electronics powerhouses Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, both of which roll out scores of sleek multimedia handsets featuring leading-edge technologies every year. The Big Two together control nearly 80% of the Korean handset market. Samsung's Answer to the iPhone Eager to play up their innovation bona fides, the Korean companies are determined not to take a back seat to Apple. For instance, less than 24 hours before Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced details of the new iPhone, Samsung unveiled a new touchscreen smartphone, called Samsung Omnia, its answer to the new iPhone. LG, for its part, last year actually beat the original iPhone by three months in the race to introduce a touchscreen model, (BusinessWeek.com, 5/1/08) offering the Prada phone, the outcome of LG's joint efforts with the Italian fashion house. Like the iPhone, Samsung's Omnia works like a small handheld PC. It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and features Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Opera 9.5 as its Web browser. It also sports a 16 GB memory, a five-megapixel camera with antishake technology, music and video players, 3G capability, Bluetooth, WiFi, an FM radio, and GPS functionality. It will go on sale in Southeast Asia later in June and in Europe in July, though pricing has yet to be announced. "Although the iPhone boasts intuitive user interface, it doesn't really outshine Korean phones in functions and technologies," says telecom analyst Yang Jong In at brokerage Korea Investment & Securities. Special Software for Internet Access LG is working on a slew of new smartphones too. In the past two years, LG has changed into a trendsetter (BusinessWeek.com, 5/8/08) from a second-tier phonemaker by launching models with a distinct look and feel. In April it rolled out the Secret, which used carbon fiber and tempered glass for the first time in a phone—a design meant to preserve the model's sleek style from wear and tear. It is also equipped with a five-megapixel camera, Movie Maker software enabling the user to mix music with videos, and a Google package allowing access to the Internet, Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube videos. Korea's regulatory requirements could also discourage the iPhone's debut in the market. To help smaller companies develop Internet-related applications at lower costs, the Seoul government in 2005 made it mandatory for all mobile-phonemakers and content providers to use a software standard for Internet access, called WIPI, or Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability, in Korea. "I doubt Apple will be bothered to develop a new WIPI-enabled phone just for the Korean market," says spokesman O Young Ho of KT Freetel, Korea's second-largest mobile carrier, known as KTF, that is in talks with Apple to sell the new iPhone. A Little Crack in the Armor? Little wonder the three Korean operators aren't in a hurry to forge a partnership with Apple. Both SK Telecom, the country's largest wireless carrier, with a 50.5% market share, and LG Telecom (with 18%) have made it clear they have no plans to offer the iPhone. O says Apple is one of many phone manufacturers that KTF (with 31.5% share) is in contact with for its future handset lineup but admits there are big gaps in their negotiation terms. Some industry-watchers bet KTF will eventually strike a deal with Apple, probably within a year. "KTF has been desperately trying to offer differentiated services to narrow its gap with SK, and the iPhone could be one option," says Stan Jung, telecom analyst at brokerage Woori Investment & Securities. Meanwhile, the Korean government says it will review its policy requiring WIPI for all Internet-capable phones now that business environments have changed in the past three years. Moon is BusinessWeek's Seoul bureau chief.

크리에이티브 커먼즈 라이센스

이 저작물은 크리에이티브 커먼즈 코리아 저작자표시-비영리-동일조건변경허락 2.0 대한민국 라이센스에 따라 이용하실 수 있습니다.