MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Jul 13, 09 - 04:54 pm Comment from: Lurker_PC

...Apple's less-than-stellar reputation as a provider consumer services here, aggravated by its recent handling of malfunctioning iPod media players, are considered weaknesses.

Less than stellar reputation in South Korea? Now that's news to me. Anyone know if this is true? Thanks for the info.

Peace.

Wow, South Korea is probably a nightmare market to break into... I've been there around 30 times... It's bizarre. Good luck Apple!

Jul 13, 09 - 05:16 pm Comment from: R

If the iPhone wants to be popular, Apple shouldn't be hitting anyone.

I know there was a lot of pad PR for Apple in South Korea because they have another system and don't use sim cards....so Apple didn't want to make a special version of the iPhone for South Korea. Some kind of security issue that the government would not allow.

Jul 13, 09 - 05:49 pm Comment from: Predrag

It seems that the South Korean market is significantly different (possibly culturally) from the rest of the world. For some reasons, barriers of entry for foreign products are quite high, and not so much due to artificial restrictions put in place by the government. Apple's iPods were never all that popular, not because they were too expensive (surely, South Koreans could afford them much more easily than, say people in Eastern Europe, or Latin America), but because the market isn't that much into spartan, clean, minimalistic design. Someone said this sometime ago; South Korean market has much more affinity with gadgets with plenty of buttons, lights, sliders, switches, etc. I'm not from there, nor have I ever been there to confirm personally, but this is what I've read several times before.

I'm curious; any South Koreans here able to confirm/deny/elaborate on the subject?

Jul 13, 09 - 05:57 pm Comment from: Anonymous©

I vaguely recall that SK wanted a recall of iPod nano batteries.

I have lived here for almost 5 years and have watched the rise of the iPod. I see many iPod touch users on my subway commute. I also see many macs out and about in coffee shops. Dont let anyone fool you into thinking that the iPhone will not be a force here. There are customer relations issues because there are no brick & mortar Apple Stores. You have to buy thro' 3rd party re-sellers who push you back onto Apple if the product breaks.

The biggest barrier to the iPhone (as well as the Mac) is that South Korea still remains Windows-obsessed. Virtually no Korean websites display properly in Safari. The worst thing is that I cannot do my banking on my Mac.

Is Apple's "less than stellar reputation" in South Korea anything like the iPhone's "less than stellar reputation" in Japan? I.e., baldfaced lies invented by fraudulent tech writers? 

Or is it actually true?

I am a South Korean Mac user.

As Jon mentioned, Windows + Internet Explorer pair is still holding somewhere between 95%-99% of the market in South Korea. It is mainly because the government and bank websites insist on using the ancient ActiveX technology invented and later abandoned by Microsoft. I am forced to use VMware+Windows+IE to do my banking.
Fortunately, the government finally (and reluctantly) and promised to move away from ActiveX from later this year.

The political influence of big companies may be another reason for slow iPhone adoption. The handset makers Samsung and LG probably have the power to delay the arrival of iPhone until they produce something even remotely impressive. Also, there are practically only two telecom companies, KT and SK, so there is no room for a minor company trying to make an exclusive deal with Apple.

Jul 13, 09 - 11:51 pm Comment from: amyhre

This title sounds like it's announcing a meteor strike. Is Apple gonna fire a 3GS from space and hit South Korea with it? Maybe they should aim a bit more north of the 38th parallel. Maybe they'll turn that nuclear energy to better use. Or maybe not.

Well the only problem is that.. KT & SK & Government cartel is still working here.. they control fee & services on wireless network.
not for us .. for companies..

they don't want any change..

so they don't want to provide us iPHONE because they don't know anything about smart phone or web based services..

well.. what is WTO ? huh?

from korea. :(

iPod is burning is South Korea. :D
wmv to mp4 on mac wmv to iphone 3g s on mac wmv to flv on mac