Apple sold estimated 60,000 iPhones in South Korean launch

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
In its first day of availability at the end of November, the iPhone sold an estimated 60,000 units in South Korea, giving Apple one successful Asian debut.



According to Digital East Asia, wireless carrier KT Corporation saw a strong sales start for the iPhone in South Korea. To put the number in perspective, Apple's 60,000 iPhones represent 15 percent of 400,000 total smartphones sold in the country in the third quarter of 2009.



"In spite of the fact that the Korean market offers one of the most advanced set of mobile products and services in the world, smartphones only represent about 1% of the total mobile market," the report said. "Executives at KT believe that the introduction of the iPhone could be a turning point for smartphones in Korea."



It's a bit of positive news for Apple in Asia, where most recent headlines have focused on the iPhone's lack of success in China. Last week, it was revealed that China's largest e-commerce Web site sold just five iPhones in their first two weeks of availability. At it was estimated that just 5,000 iPhones were sold at launch on the carrier China Unicom.



In South Korea, the market has long been dominated by native handset manufacturers like LG and Samsung. Those companies were reportedly aided in the past by government regulations that placed restrictions on foreign companies. Samsung and Pantech have an estimated 90 percent market share in South Korea, and nearly 90 percent of the population owns a mobile phone.



Overseas expansion of the iPhone will continue this week, when Apple's handset makes its debut in Israel. Cellcom, the nation's largest wireless provider, will sell the smartphone beginning Wednesday at midnight local time, and competitors Orange and Bezeq Israel Telecom will offer it Thursday.



Israel reportedly has one of the highest global mobile phone penetration rates, at 125 percent. An estimated 80,000 unlocked iPhones already exist in the country.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    Wow did not realize how few phones sold in china. yikes. I guess apple should pay the stock holders back and sell the business.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    Don't want to sound ethnocentric, but something really is amiss, afoot, alas.



    Here it is Apple has, a by every stretch of the imagination, a 'winning' product and it has taken almost 3 years to open up the Asian markets (a little less for the EU market) and yet they have been selling tons of 'crap' products (via Walmart) to us for decades!



    The iPhone just high lights the disparity in a so-called 'free global market.'



    Oh well.



    EDIT: Before Solipsism corrects me, I guess it is naive of me to think it is a 'free' global Market!
  • Reply 3 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    So this pretty much kills any of the talk about S. Korea being so advanced that no one will want to use the iPhone. 15% installed base of smartphones after a couple weeks is pretty damn excessive. I have to wonder how many of those buyers are new to the smartphone as platform since only about 300k used smartphones in that country prior to the launch.



    PS: Any non-Koreans living in Korea have any problems procuring an iPhone. I?ve heard stories about nationalist bigotry being quite common even when it comes to spending money on a phone.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by farshad View Post


    Wow did not realize how few phones sold in china. yikes. I guess apple should pay the stock holders back and sell the business.



    Note that those were through official channels, which had no WiFi chip at launch do to a stupid law that will be reversed and cost more than alternative methods.. There have several hundred-thousand iPhones reportedly sold in China.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Very nice. Just shows how far ahead of the game the iPhone is - even in parts of Asia, no less.



    Now if only the Chinese situation could be rectified.
  • Reply 5 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    Don't want to sound ethnocentric, but something really is amiss, afoot, alas.



    Here it is Apple has, a by every stretch of the imagination, a 'winning' product and it has taken almost 3 years to open up the Asian markets (a little less for the EU market) and yet they have been selling tons of 'crap' products (via Walmart) to us for decades!



    The iPhone just high lights the disparity in a so-called 'free global market.'



    Oh well. :???



    I don?t quite understand your post. What part seems amiss? The time it takes to go from the US market to Asain markets? The fact that a product that the US sells in Walmart can also be a premium product in other markets? I think you have a valid point but I?m just not sure what it is.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by farshad View Post


    Wow did not realize how few phones sold in china. yikes. I guess apple should pay the stock holders back and sell the business.



    Yes, Apple is DOOMED!
  • Reply 7 of 47
    patspats Posts: 112member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by farshad View Post


    Wow did not realize how few phones sold in china. yikes. I guess apple should pay the stock holders back and sell the business.



    Apple has very little retail exposure in China. Apple wholesales Iphones to China Unicom which then retails. According to the China Business News China Unicom will pay Apple 10B CNY (USD $1,463B) for 5M units from Apple over 3 years. How many Iphones has Apple sold in China?
  • Reply 8 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Very nice. Just shows how far ahead of the game the iPhone is - even in parts of Asia, no less.



    Now if only the Chinese situation could be rectified.



    Of course it will be..... (after the current lot are taken to the landfill)....
  • Reply 9 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I don?t quite understand your post. What part seems amiss? The time it takes to go from the US market to Asain markets? The fact that a product that the US sells in Walmart can also be a premium product in other markets? I think you have a valid point but I?m just not sure what it is.



    Yep, 'the time it takes to get into Asian markets was my main point'...seems a bit one sided.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    I'm surprised it did that well in Korea since they are a tech mecca more so than China.
  • Reply 11 of 47
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Isn't Hong Kong in Asia?



    Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan.



    I'd heard Geography wasn't America's strongpoint but i've never come across it first hand.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    Don't want to sound ethnocentric, but something really is amiss, afoot, alas.



    Here it is Apple has, a by every stretch of the imagination, a 'winning' product and it has taken almost 3 years to open up the Asian markets (a little less for the EU market) and yet they have been selling tons of 'crap' products (via Walmart) to us for decades!



    The iPhone just high lights the disparity in a so-called 'free global market.'



    Oh well.



    EDIT: Before Solipsism corrects me, I guess it is naive of me to think it is a 'free' global Market!



  • Reply 12 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    Isn't Hong Kong in Asia?



    Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan.



    I'd heard Geography wasn't America's strongpoint but i've never come across it first hand.



    Now, now...be nice, don't be so dismissive. I know it is often said, 'America has to go to war with a country, to learn where it is!'



    But I'm English living here in the States. Anyway, you don't think 3 years is a long time for such a game changing product as the iPhone to get into China and Korea?
  • Reply 13 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    Yep, 'the time it takes to get into Asian markets was my main point'...seems a bit one sided.



    Seems faster than most Western countries. Nokia, the largest handset maker and often touted as having a great feature set by Europeans, pulled out of Japan last year.



    We have to consider Apple’s relatively small exposure in Asia and the different networks that can cause some issue. The first iPhone wouldn’t even have worked in Korea until the 3G arrived less than 1.5 years ago since their 2G is completely CDMA. Then we have to consider the quasi-“closed door" policies for outside businesses coming in, and the supply constraints for the ever increasing iPhone sales which even kept European countries in low supply after the 3GS launch.



    Frankly, I think Apple is building a little too quickly. At this point they have to rely on growth in markets they are already in as there are very few places they can expand to using a GSM/3GSM device. I’ve liked Apple as stockholder because their growth was sustained and even. Now I’m not so sure what to expect in a year.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Seems faster than most Western countries. Nokia, the largest handset maker and often touted as having a great feature set by Europeans, pulled out of Japan last year.



    We have to consider Apple?s relatively small exposure in Asia and the different networks that can cause some issue. The first iPhone wouldn?t even have worked in Korea until the 3G arrived less than 1.5 years ago since their 2G is completely CDMA. Then we have to consider the quasi-?closed door" policies for out businesses coming in and the supply constraints for the ever increasing iPhone sales.



    Frankly, I think Apple is building a little too quickly. At this point they have to rely on growth in markets they are already in as there are very few places they can expand to using a GSM/3GSM device. I?ve liked Apple as stockholder because their growth was sustained and even. Now I?m not so sure what to expect in a year.



    Good points.
  • Reply 15 of 47
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Al Gore didn't have Laura Ling infiltrate Korea for nothing.
  • Reply 16 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    Isn't Hong Kong in Asia?



    Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan.



    I'd heard Geography wasn't America's strongpoint but i've never come across it first hand.



    Geographically, sure. I have no doubt that Christopher126 knows that, but it was under British Rule for some 150 years only returning back to China a decade or so ago. When I think of Asia and the Asian people I don’t think of Hong Kong and it’s strong ties to the West. I wouldn’t slight anyone for that unless it was specifically regarding where Hong Kong was located.



    PS: {It seems to me that American] Westerners don’t consider Indians or Middle Easterns as Asians. You can test this sometime.
  • Reply 17 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post




    PS: Westerners don?t consider Indians or Middle Easterns as Asians. You can test this sometime.



    To say 'westerners' is too broad a sweep. This is a peculiarly US usage of the word.



    For the rest of the world (at least, the places to which I've traveled), 'Asia' means what it actually is on a map: Just about everything from the Middle East all the way to Papua New Guinea.
  • Reply 18 of 47
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    *wrong thread.*
  • Reply 19 of 47
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    To say 'westerners' is too broad a sweep. This is a peculiarly US usage of the word.

    For the rest of the world (at least, the places to which I've traveled), 'Asia' means what it actually is on a map: Just about everything from the Middle East all the way to Papua New Guinea.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Geographically, sure. I have no doubt that Christopher126 knows that, but it was under British Rule for some 150 years only returning back to China a decade or so ago. When I think of Asia and the Asian people I don’t think of Hong Kong and it’s strong ties to the West. I wouldn’t slight anyone for that unless it was specifically regarding where Hong Kong was located.



    PS: Westerners don’t consider Indians or Middle Easterns as Asians. You can test this sometime.



    We interrupt this program to give you a geography lesson. Gag.

    These Brits and what-have-you actually think they are so much more superior than any American yet they move here and buy all our products- especially Apple products. Such hypocrisy.
  • Reply 20 of 47
    I was in South Korea for three weeks in the spring of 2008. Whenever I pulled out my iPhone, a crowd would gather around and people would ask for a demo. I found that interesting because I had heard that Korea produced such advanced mobile phones.



    But it was clear that the iPhone went way beyond what Koreans were used to using and they were clearly interested in the technology.
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