South Korean iPhone 4 preorders hit 130K in first 13 hours
Preorders for the iPhone 4 in South Korea were so overwhelming Wednesday that they brought down the servers of carrier KT Corp., which sold 130,000 handsets by 7 p.m. local time.
According to The Korea Herald, customers in South Korea showed significant demand for the iPhone 4 when it went on sale via KT's website and at its 2,900 shops nationwide. The phone went on sale at 6 a.m. and sold 100,000 by 1 p.m. local time, eventually reaching 130,000, 13 hours after preorders began.
The numbers are a significant increase from last December, when the iPhone 3GS sold 60,000 units at launch. The iPhone 4 is set to launch in Kora sometime in September.
Demand for the iPhone 4 was so strong in South Korea that KT had to expand the server for its website. The site was crashing throughout the day as customers attempted to preorder Apple's latest handset. KT is the second-largest carrier in the country.
South Korea's preorder troubles are not unique -- carrier AT&T experienced similar difficulties in June, when customers could first place their order for the iPhone 4. Demand for Apple's newest smartphone was ten times higher on opening day than it was for its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.
Apple later announced that more than 600,000 preorders were achieved on the first day of iPhone 4 sales. The handset launched in June in the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K. and Japan. Apple plans to quickly ramp up the iPhone 4 international launch to 87 total countries by September, its fastest-ever global deployment of a new handset.
According to The Korea Herald, customers in South Korea showed significant demand for the iPhone 4 when it went on sale via KT's website and at its 2,900 shops nationwide. The phone went on sale at 6 a.m. and sold 100,000 by 1 p.m. local time, eventually reaching 130,000, 13 hours after preorders began.
The numbers are a significant increase from last December, when the iPhone 3GS sold 60,000 units at launch. The iPhone 4 is set to launch in Kora sometime in September.
Demand for the iPhone 4 was so strong in South Korea that KT had to expand the server for its website. The site was crashing throughout the day as customers attempted to preorder Apple's latest handset. KT is the second-largest carrier in the country.
South Korea's preorder troubles are not unique -- carrier AT&T experienced similar difficulties in June, when customers could first place their order for the iPhone 4. Demand for Apple's newest smartphone was ten times higher on opening day than it was for its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.
Apple later announced that more than 600,000 preorders were achieved on the first day of iPhone 4 sales. The handset launched in June in the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K. and Japan. Apple plans to quickly ramp up the iPhone 4 international launch to 87 total countries by September, its fastest-ever global deployment of a new handset.
Comments
Apple is Doomed!?
Always love to hear news that throws mud in the faces of trolls and critics.
I enjoy using my iP4 every single day.
The iPhone 4 is set to launch in Kora sometime in September.
Spell check, Katie. Spell check!
...it would be a hit there. South Koreans are a very sophisticated, gregarious, tech-savvy society. I should know, I was stationed in Korea for a year. One only needs to step down at their award winning, ultra-modern Incheon International Airport in Seoul to know what I'm talking about.
Actually, I find Incheon Airport to be very cold and impersonal; but that's an aside. I agree with your first point that Koreans are very tech-savvy. What makes the number of pre-orders more incredible though is that Apple is competing against SK (Korea's largest telecom provider) and Samsung (One of Korea's largest and most respected companies) with the Samsung Galaxy S. SK have been flogging the Galaxy S with deals that include bringing your old iPhone in for a rebate on the Galaxy S. Apple is also competing against the Korean mindset that says if it's not made in Korea it's not good; though that mindset is now changing.
As a final point the iPhone pre-orders in Korea were higher per-capita than in the US. Apple would do well to make Korea one of its first tier countries.
...it would be a hit there. South Koreans are a very sophisticated, gregarious, tech-savvy society. I should know, I was stationed in Korea for a year. One only needs to step down at their award winning, ultra-modern Incheon International Airport near Seoul to know what I'm talking about.
It's funny, they are so tech savvy that it was stated over and over that the iPhone couldn't possibly sell well in S. Korea. That abruptly stopped last Autumn. Before that, the same was said about Japan and the iPhone.
As a final point the iPhone pre-orders in Korea were higher per-capita than in the US. Apple would do well to make Korea one of its first tier countries.
They sold 1M 3GS iPhones in 5 months last year. The 5th largest mover.
/s
Only 130K!?
Apple is Doomed!?
Of course!
Don't you remember the people saying the iPhone would fail in South Korea unless it was CDMA?
Of course!
Don't you remember the people saying the iPhone would fail in South Korea unless it was CDMA?
Maybe they meant NKorea
I also hand my iPhone 4 over and ask people to make the bars drop, which they can't seem to do.
Upgrading from a 3G is an awesome experience and was well worth it, a rediscovery of just how good these things are, a worldwide phenomenon apparently.
Starcraft + iPhone 4 = happy south Korea
I've noticed. My Korean friends are reporting the same.
Actually, I find Incheon Airport to be very cold and impersonal; but that's an aside. I agree with your first point that Koreans are very tech-savvy. What makes the number of pre-orders more incredible though is that Apple is competing against SK (Korea's largest telecom provider) and Samsung (One of Korea's largest and most respected companies) with the Samsung Galaxy S. SK have been flogging the Galaxy S with deals that include bringing your old iPhone in for a rebate on the Galaxy S. Apple is also competing against the Korean mindset that says if it's not made in Korea it's not good; though that mindset is now changing.
As a final point the iPhone pre-orders in Korea were higher per-capita than in the US. Apple would do well to make Korea one of its first tier countries.
I'm a Korean-American and visit there on a regular basis. The airport is great in that it's super clean and ultra modern, but I do think it's just too damn big and impersonal.
Although there's a bit of nationalist streak in Koreans, the "upscale" types really love "luxury" brand imports of all types and Apple's stuff is definitely considered as such over there.
I also travel a lot on business to other parts of Asia (mainly China) and Europe and they all consider Apple a very upscale and expensive brand - kind of like Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Mercedes, Bang & Olufsen, etc. I'd say way more so than here in the States.
Spell check, Katie. Spell check!
Kora is a word (it's an african lute) and wouldn't have been flagged as suspect.
Not too bad for a "flawed" phone with a "defective design".
Always love to hear news that throws mud in the faces of trolls and critics.
I enjoy using my iP4 every single day.
I do not have any issues with my Phone 4 either. What Steve said "don't hold it like that", works out ok. I do notice at times when I'm not paying attention a web page downloads slowly. Then I remember to avoid holding it that way. Not a big deal. iPhone is by far the best phone out there despite any minor shortcomings.
I try to always buy the best I can afford of everything and even the top of the line products sometimes have little issues. My Mac is not perfect, my iPhone is not perfect, my Nikon is not perfect, my BMW is not perfect, my Sony isn't perfect but in all cases it was the best choice. So yes, I'm happy with my iPhone 4. I'm even happy with my iPad, although I haven't really used it very much yet. Still trying to figure out how to work it into my routine.