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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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 Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:28 pm Post subject: Has the sun set on S Korea's mobile dream? BBC Report |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/default.stm
Interesting BBC report about mobile tech in Korea, and how protectionism might just be coming back to bite them in arse.
Also, check out the article below that video. in 2 years time, Korea might have 1gb internet speed. Now all they have to do is phase out Windows XP! |
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crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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They were never "the" leader in mobile. Japan always seemed a little ahead. Mind you compared to back home for a lot of people here they were far better.
at least until the iPhone came out and everyone wanted that.
The only difference now is that they really have to compete.
We'll see how the landscape looks in a year or two. Everyone is crazy for the iPhone right now but as Android plays catch-up, the market should become a little more open. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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How has Japan been the leader in mobile? I can't remember the last time I saw someone with a Sony Ericson cell phone. The Walkman phone completely bombed.
IIRC, the mobile market was dominated by Nokia in the late 90's, followed by Motorola. Then came the rise of Samsung/LG phones. Smartphone, however popular they MAY seem, are only a small percentage of TOTAL cell phone users.
iPhone is the most popular Smartphone now, but that will change because it is only 1 phone versus dozens of other alternatives. Apple just released the iPhone4. They will probably not release a new iteration of the iPhone for another year. Meanwhile, companies like Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC can put out a new model every month.
Cell phones are moving in the direction of the PC industry 20 years ago. The iPhone is the Apple 2e. Android OS is Microsoft. Back in the day, Apple 2e was the most popular, best mass market computer in the market. Apple got smoked by PC's that had Microsoft OS because of numbers.
I think the biggest mistake Samsung is doing now is working on their own OS, "Bada". They are gonna pull a Sony (Betamax, Minidisc). What Samsung and LG need to do is innovate the hardware. Forget about the OS and leave that to Android.
What I think would be sweet is a smartphone with a touch senstive BACK with a cursor on the screen. No more smudging your screen with your finger grease. YOu can do away with using 2 hands to use your smartphone. Those are the kind of hardware innovations Samsung and LG need to do in order to sustain their success. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Ericsson was dope until like 2005 then fell fast and hard. |
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kpfogey
Joined: 20 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:32 am Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| Ericsson was dope until like 2005 then fell fast and hard. |
I had a SE K750i and it was freaking awesome at the time. good phone/music sound, nice pictures and had multitasking to boot |
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unplugged_boy
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:15 am Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
| How has Japan been the leader in mobile? I can't remember the last time I saw someone with a Sony Ericson cell phone. The Walkman phone completely bombed. |
Those Sony ericsson phones were bland mainstream consumer phones that seemed more swedish than japanese. I would not say they were representive of what "Japanese" phones were really like.
Before the smartphone days, domestic japanese handsets were stomping Korean phones in terms of tech and build imo. Those phones never made it to the north american market for a number of reasons but id say insuffcient network infrastructure and design tastes were couple of the biggest factors. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| unplugged_boy wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
| How has Japan been the leader in mobile? I can't remember the last time I saw someone with a Sony Ericson cell phone. The Walkman phone completely bombed. |
Those Sony ericsson phones were bland mainstream consumer phones that seemed more swedish than japanese. I would not say they were representive of what "Japanese" phones were really like.
Before the smartphone days, domestic japanese handsets were stomping Korean phones in terms of tech and build imo. Those phones never made it to the north american market for a number of reasons but id say insuffcient network infrastructure and design tastes were couple of the biggest factors. |
Which particular domestic Japanese handsets were you thinking of?
I lived in Japan for over 10 years and I reckon you've got that the wrong way round. Korea was way later than Japan (or much of the rest of the world) to catch on to smartphones, but for most of the last decade Korean phones tended to be a lot more attractive than what was available in Japan. The Japanese cell phone system had certain advantages over the Korean equivalent, but the phones themselves were significantly poorer IMO. |
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red_devil
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| What does "being a leader" in mobile mean anyways? Are we talking handset manufacturing? Features? Mobile network infrastructure? Wireless data networks? Consumer voice and data packages? Customer Service? Cost? Usability? Software? Security and integrity? |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:58 am Post subject: |
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I'm on my annual Korea visit and I'm fascinated by how completely the Iphone has taken over the country.
All my relatives have Iphones. Everyone on the subway around me has Iphones. In my own country, Iphone is neck-in-neck with Blackberry, but here it's total for Apple.
Back in my Korean teaching days I used to have housewives claim, "we don't want foreign products, Korean products are the best for us." Where did these people go? To the Iphone store, it seems.
Makes me wonder what Seoul's streets would look like if Toyota/Lexus ever got in on a level playing field.
I read those articles about the "Galapagos Syndrome" and who knows - maybe this exposure to foreign competition will result in much better Korean phones in two or three years. It's now very in-your-face to Koreans that they're losing the game they owned, not too long ago. I'm sure heads are rolling at Samsung and LG.
Hyundai should be paying attention. |
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sheriffadam
Joined: 10 May 2010
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 7:13 am Post subject: |
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| The Lemon wrote: |
I'm on my annual Korea visit and I'm fascinated by how completely the Iphone has taken over the country.
All my relatives have Iphones. Everyone on the subway around me has Iphones. In my own country, Iphone is neck-in-neck with Blackberry, but here it's total for Apple.
Back in my Korean teaching days I used to have housewives claim, "we don't want foreign products, Korean products are the best for us." Where did these people go? To the Iphone store, it seems.
Makes me wonder what Seoul's streets would look like if Toyota/Lexus ever got in on a level playing field.
I read those articles about the "Galapagos Syndrome" and who knows - maybe this exposure to foreign competition will result in much better Korean phones in two or three years. It's now very in-your-face to Koreans that they're losing the game they owned, not too long ago. I'm sure heads are rolling at Samsung and LG.
Hyundai should be paying attention. |
I beg to differ, you've obviously not looked at all the users waving there Galaxy phones around then? I might be slightly biased having got one myself (as I bet more people here do than the iphone4) but they seem more popular to me, admittedly have also been out longer.
The only friend I know with iphone4 wishes they'd got a galaxy too.
Also Sony Ericsson is mostly UK based for its R&D + Design teams, I wouldn't say their phones have ever been bland, their phones hold the worlds first title for many of their accomplishments, such as the camera and walkman line of phones. Don't mix 'fantastic and useful and everywhere as 'bland '' What else do you need from it? The T610 is a phone monument! |
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