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boatofcar
Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Location: Sheffield, UK
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 Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:12 am Post subject: It's August, where's the iPhone? |
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| I thought it was supposed to be here by now. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:15 am Post subject: |
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iPhone is Vaporware in Korea.
I bet you someone is going to say they have credible sources saying it'll be here "next month".
Its been "next month" ever since the 1st iPhone was released in the US. I'm not holding my breath. Especially since there are so many other phones out there. New LG Chocolate phone anyone? |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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Korea needed 2 years for its tech industry to "catch up" and create a phone like the LG Chocolate.
Yes, it took them 2 years to successfully rip-off the I-phone.
If you have to pay through the nose for the services, what good is it? |
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steveohan
Joined: 24 Apr 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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yup...it was supposed to be here in the spring. then they said it would be here when the new iphone was released. then they had some kind of issue with IMEI and USIM. then there was another issue about the GPS and location based services. the excuses are never ending....
it's so funny how you can buy an iphone in countries like estonia, kenya, senegal, botswana (nothing against those countries) but the 'most wired nation in the world' cant even bring it in.
koreas mobile telecommunications industry is progressing on a totally different track...they are oblivious to the mobile communications trends that are happening all over the world.
samsung and LG are fleecing their korean customers. you'd think they'd release their biggest and best phones on their home turf, but its the complete opposite. they deliberately cripple their domestic phones (no wifi, no internet browser, no GPS) because so many koreans will go out in droves to buy the newest haptic or cookie or whatever POS they release.
have you seen commercials for the newest 'high tech' phones here? a bunch of girls dancing around, a girl playing some stupid cooking game on her phone, its ridiculous.
i've been waiting and waiting and waiting for iphone. but im almost done with this charade. if there's no announcement by the end of this month, im gonna pick up a Blackberry Bold. there arent any crippled features either. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| steveohan wrote: |
koreas mobile telecommunications industry is progressing on a totally different track...they are oblivious to the mobile communications trends that are happening all over the world.
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Think about it from a company's point of view. Businesses should only be concerned with one thing, and that is to make a profit. Shareholders only care about one thing, its more profit so that their stock values increase.
The iPhone is NOT profitable in Korea. First off, Apple makes all the money on the software. All the games, ringtones, music, Apps you get for the iPhone go through iTunes and Apple gets that money. How are the telecoms going to make money off of the iPhone? Accessories?
From a business perspective, why would a Korean telecom release a product that would HURT their bottom line?
Personally, 1 year ago the iPhone is a must have. Nowadays, there are so many substitutes, why even bother? Most of the coolest Apps that take advantage of the iPhone wouldn't work here.
For example, there's that App that gives the closest restaurants or POI's from your location. How's that going to work here? Out of the thousands of restaurants in Gangnam, only like 5 would probably come up because only those have been reviewed.
Hell, even Naver can't give accurate information on restaurants. There have been a number of times I've found a restaurant on Naver, only to find that its no longer there..
What about the Amazon app where you take a picture of an item and the item shows up in your Amazon App. What's the point of that here? Amazon doesn't ship to Korea.
There's an App for the New york subway where it shows you where everything is through your camera using the compass and GPS location. That's great in New York, but are the same developers going to make a Seoul map for it?
The only useful Korean App for my iPod Touch is the Daum Maps. What Korean Apps are there that give you information like restaurants? What Korean App tells you where the closest Post Office is from your current location? The iPod touch has been out here for 2 years. How many Korean Apps are available for it? The iPhone is only as good as the software that's running it. What's the point in launching it here if you are limited in the number of Apps that can actually be used in Korea?
What benefit is there for SKT, KT, or LG telecom to sell the iPhone? I promise you, if the iPhone could make billions of Won for whatever company released it, then the iPhone would've been out in Korea much sooner.
I think it sucks that the iPhone isn't coming out here. However, I can understand why it's taking so long. I don't agree with it, but I don't BLAME the telecoms for looking after their own business.
Why do you think AT&T has an "exclusive" deal with Apple for the iPhone? Why wouldn't Apple just release the iPhone through all the carriers that can support it? It's money. AT&T and Apple have a deal that makes money for BOTH companies. Do you think Apple would setup a similar deal with a Korean Telecom? Steve Jobs already made the point that the Korean market isn't a priority. |
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swigs
Joined: 20 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
| steveohan wrote: |
koreas mobile telecommunications industry is progressing on a totally different track...they are oblivious to the mobile communications trends that are happening all over the world.
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Think about it from a company's point of view. Businesses should only be concerned with one thing, and that is to make a profit. Shareholders only care about one thing, its more profit so that their stock values increase.
The iPhone is NOT profitable in Korea. First off, Apple makes all the money on the software. All the games, ringtones, music, Apps you get for the iPhone go through iTunes and Apple gets that money. How are the telecoms going to make money off of the iPhone? Accessories?
From a business perspective, why would a Korean telecom release a product that would HURT their bottom line?
Personally, 1 year ago the iPhone is a must have. Nowadays, there are so many substitutes, why even bother? Most of the coolest Apps that take advantage of the iPhone wouldn't work here.
For example, there's that App that gives the closest restaurants or POI's from your location. How's that going to work here? Out of the thousands of restaurants in Gangnam, only like 5 would probably come up because only those have been reviewed.
Hell, even Naver can't give accurate information on restaurants. There have been a number of times I've found a restaurant on Naver, only to find that its no longer there..
What about the Amazon app where you take a picture of an item and the item shows up in your Amazon App. What's the point of that here? Amazon doesn't ship to Korea.
There's an App for the New york subway where it shows you where everything is through your camera using the compass and GPS location. That's great in New York, but are the same developers going to make a Seoul map for it?
The only useful Korean App for my iPod Touch is the Daum Maps. What Korean Apps are there that give you information like restaurants? What Korean App tells you where the closest Post Office is from your current location? The iPod touch has been out here for 2 years. How many Korean Apps are available for it? The iPhone is only as good as the software that's running it. What's the point in launching it here if you are limited in the number of Apps that can actually be used in Korea?
What benefit is there for SKT, KT, or LG telecom to sell the iPhone? I promise you, if the iPhone could make billions of Won for whatever company released it, then the iPhone would've been out in Korea much sooner.
I think it sucks that the iPhone isn't coming out here. However, I can understand why it's taking so long. I don't agree with it, but I don't BLAME the telecoms for looking after their own business.
Why do you think AT&T has an "exclusive" deal with Apple for the iPhone? Why wouldn't Apple just release the iPhone through all the carriers that can support it? It's money. AT&T and Apple have a deal that makes money for BOTH companies. Do you think Apple would setup a similar deal with a Korean Telecom? Steve Jobs already made the point that the Korean market isn't a priority. |
Protectionism is lame! What if America started blocking Kia/Samsung/Hondea/LG, among other companies for TWO PLUS YEARS so that we could gain an dominant market share and RIP what ever IP was developed in those two years. Your argument is greatly flawed. Koreans don't make money from apps anyways, they make money through charging out the nose for data plans, something they could still do with the Iphone. Once the Iphone was here Korean software developers would make more programs for it. I already have Daum Maps and a Korean Subway map App for my ipod touch! There would be even more Korean Apps if the Korean Government and Telecoms would stop acting LAME. I call FOUL.
BassExpander:
| Quote: |
Korea needed 2 years for its tech industry to "catch up" and create a phone like the LG Chocolate.
Yes, it took them 2 years to successfully rip-off the I-phone.
If you have to pay through the nose for the services, what good is it? |
Word. It's quite obvious that Korean tech has been ripping Apples IP while blocking their product. It's so blatant, it's sad. If I ever make into government I'll make sure I watch out for countries whom do lame protectionist tactics like this. 
Plus LG and Samsung don't know how to make any software that is worth using. |
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steveohan
Joined: 24 Apr 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
Think about it from a company's point of view. Businesses should only be concerned with one thing, and that is to make a profit. Shareholders only care about one thing, its more profit so that their stock values increase.
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agree.
| pkang0202 wrote: |
The iPhone is NOT profitable in Korea. First off, Apple makes all the money on the software. All the games, ringtones, music, Apps you get for the iPhone go through iTunes and Apple gets that money. How are the telecoms going to make money off of the iPhone? Accessories?
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apple doesnt make all the money on the software. they make a percentage of each sale. so if KT or SK want to make games, apps, etc for the iphone, they can do that. it only costs 99 dollars to create an app and publish is on the app store (pending apple approval). they can price the app for whatever cost they want and make money.
| pkang0202 wrote: |
From a business perspective, why would a Korean telecom release a product that would HURT their bottom line?
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it would probably only hurt their bottom line in the short term. they money they make off data would more than make up for it. think about it this way...there arent many korean phones these days that use data services. with the iphone, i think you're obligated to get a data plan. they range from like 20,000 - 60,000 won / month. koreans then start to get used to mobile internet, and then samsung and LG will finally release phones that are able to do more than just play games and send text messages. then 2,3,4 years down the line once a good number of people own smartphones, the telcoms make a killing off the data. the iphone is the catalyst.[/quote]
| pkang0202 wrote: |
Personally, 1 year ago the iPhone is a must have. Nowadays, there are so many substitutes, why even bother? Most of the coolest Apps that take advantage of the iPhone wouldn't work here.
For example, there's that App that gives the closest restaurants or POI's from your location. How's that going to work here? Out of the thousands of restaurants in Gangnam, only like 5 would probably come up because only those have been reviewed.
Hell, even Naver can't give accurate information on restaurants. There have been a number of times I've found a restaurant on Naver, only to find that its no longer there..
What about the Amazon app where you take a picture of an item and the item shows up in your Amazon App. What's the point of that here? Amazon doesn't ship to Korea.
There's an App for the New york subway where it shows you where everything is through your camera using the compass and GPS location. That's great in New York, but are the same developers going to make a Seoul map for it?
The only useful Korean App for my iPod Touch is the Daum Maps. What Korean Apps are there that give you information like restaurants? What Korean App tells you where the closest Post Office is from your current location? The iPod touch has been out here for 2 years. How many Korean Apps are available for it? The iPhone is only as good as the software that's running it. What's the point in launching it here if you are limited in the number of Apps that can actually be used in Korea?
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as for apps and their usefulness in korea, just give it time. the app store is slowly growing with more korean made apps. once koreans see that they can make some money off the sales of their own apps, they will start building.
| pkang0202 wrote: |
What benefit is there for SKT, KT, or LG telecom to sell the iPhone? I promise you, if the iPhone could make billions of Won for whatever company released it, then the iPhone would've been out in Korea much sooner.
I think it sucks that the iPhone isn't coming out here. However, I can understand why it's taking so long. I don't agree with it, but I don't BLAME the telecoms for looking after their own business.
Why do you think AT&T has an "exclusive" deal with Apple for the iPhone? Why wouldn't Apple just release the iPhone through all the carriers that can support it? It's money. AT&T and Apple have a deal that makes money for BOTH companies. Do you think Apple would setup a similar deal with a Korean Telecom? Steve Jobs already made the point that the Korean market isn't a priority. |
like i said, the iphone is the catalyst to change the korean mobile telecom industry.
korea is not a priority for apple because there are so many barriers. wipi was one of them, but that was scrapped in april.
now it's the issue of GPS and location based services.
its all ass backwards here. |
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red_devil
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Location: Korea
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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The iPhone fiasco is just a minor blip of protectionism. Don't you know that the Korean government PAYS for the phone if a consumer agrees to purchase a korean phone, and agrees to use it for a certain time period? Valid only for Koreans. Valid only on Korean phones.
Imagine the outcry if the USA allowed a similar program touting buy American? |
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DCJames
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
The iPhone is NOT profitable in Korea. First off, Apple makes all the money on the software. All the games, ringtones, music, Apps you get for the iPhone go through iTunes and Apple gets that money. How are the telecoms going to make money off of the iPhone? Accessories?
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No, Apple makes most of their profits by selling cheap Chinese-made iPods and mac books for ridiculously high marked up prices.
The Apps in Itunes are mainly created by users not Apple. Apple uses the App Store to get consumers to buy their low quality products for big $$$. That's how Apple has been successful. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:36 am Post subject: |
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You can't assume that Koreans would use apps and take advantage of the data plans just because people do it elsewhere.
First off, Safari is worthless to Koreans. We've all been frustrated by Korean websites and ActiveX. Koreans DON'T USE FACEBOOK. They use Cyworld. Last I checked, Cyworld doesn't work too well on an iPod touch.
Just take a look at an iPhone and what it brings to the Korean market objectively.
Here is my main point:
Korean Telecoms just don't see the iPhone as a priority. And I can completely understand why they would think that.
I don't agree with it, but I can understand why they aren't in any rush to bring it here.
As for Korean consumers, they seem to be doing just fine without the iPhone. Maybe Korean consumers aren't interested in a phone that doesn't support DMB broadcasts. Maybe the iPhone is just a little too wide to be a cell phone. The Samsung Omnia is about the same width as an iPhone and I don't see too many of those around. Most people have the thinner Haptic models.
Just because we want the iPhone doesn't necessarily mean everyone in Korea is dying to have one and that the Korean Telecoms are doing their people a grave injustice by delaying its release. |
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Cheonmunka
Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:00 am Post subject: |
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As for maps of Seoul, you know there's the navigation service with Sk or whathaveyou - speak into the phone and it gives you directions ...
Like PKang says Korean companies have their own relevant applications.
Scan your phone to pay for the bus, subway etc. |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Apparently the forklift driver set a palate of iPhones down a bit too roughly and they all exploded, causing a chain reaction in the warehouse. |
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stayfocused
Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| DCJames wrote: |
No, Apple makes most of their profits by selling cheap Chinese-made iPods and mac books for ridiculously high marked up prices.
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The quality and design of Apple products is top-notch, imo.
I'll be the someone pkang was talking about with credible sources. My source says later this month. The thing is he should credible considering his position but I don't even believe him haha.
That'd be going from no real imminent release news to being on the store shelves all in the same month... |
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red_devil
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
Imagine the outcry if the USA allowed a similar program touting buy American? |
And just what "American" brand cell phones would they buy? They'd have like two choices: Blackberry or iPhone. Hahaha. |
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