2018년 6월 27일 수요일

What happend to premium smartphone sales in South Korea?



A new report claims the latest flagships from Samsung, LG and Apple are seeing record-low sales in South Korea.

After the Galaxy S9 and iPhone X, LG G7 has also been confirmed to be a flop in Korea.

According to the mobile service provider, the G7 ThinQ series, which was launched in Korea on May 18, was sold 79,194 units for one month. Average daily sales volume is around 3000 units.
The G7 had cumulative sales of 42,000 units for eight days since its launch, but its sales volume has plummeted after that.
Some pointed out that the launch of the G7 ThinQ followed by series of products with similar features and designs such as Q7, Q7 Plus, V35 ThinQ (scheduled for July) was one of reasons for weak sales of G7 in Korea.

LG Electronics' smartphone sales manager said that it was very rare that the average daily sales volume of 3,000 units was reached in less than a month for premium phone.

As with the Galaxy S9 and iPhone X, mobile carriers and experts interpreted that the G7 could not overcome decreasing demand for premium smartphones as well.

According to the data obtained by ET News, Apple managed to shift just 475,000 units of the iPhone X via the major South Korean carriers over the course of its first four months, with a peak of 163,000 devices in December and a low of 70,000 in February. The latter figure of which is very weak when the lack of rival launches is taken into account over the tracking timeframe. Also, the total number of units over the period marks the lowest-ever sales figures for an iPhone launch in the country.

In regards to Samsung, the brand certainly faired better than Apple, managing to ship a total of 707,000 Galaxy S9 and S9+ units via carriers since the line’s March launch. However, despite the higher numbers, it’s worth noting that South Korea is the brand’s home country, a territory where its flagship devices tend to perform extremely well. Unfortunately for the giant, though, the sales of its new devices have also set a new record-low for the brand. In fact, for reference, last year’s Galaxy S8 line managed to ship a respectable 1 million units over the two-month period.

Coinciding with a number of previous reports, the cause of the weak demand is once again said to be the higher pricing of the new flagship devices, and the latest report goes on to warn that the slowing sales could potentially become a long-term trend in the premium smartphone market.




2018년 6월 22일 금요일

LG U plus released the Kakao Little Friends phone in Korea


LG U plus released the Kakao Little Friends phone in the nationwide store and official online mall U + shop on the June, 11th.

Kakao Little Friends Phone is a child's mobile phone that applies familiar kakao characters such as Little Ryan and Little Planet to background, lock screen, icons, case, protective film and so on.
Based on Android performance of Samsung Galaxy J3, it provides real-time location inquiry and prevent malicious apps.

The most noticeable feature is real-time location lookup.
Parents can view their child's location in real-time with the Guardian app preinstalled on the phone.
It is also possible to view the surrounding situation by operating the front camera of the child's phone.

There is the control and management functions to prevent harmful content by being pre-blocked to children.
With a guardian Kakao kid app, children can use only allowed app services and the functions such as calls and letters are limited. In order to exit the Kakao Kids app, you need to enter the password set by the parent.

The Kakao Little Friends Phone can be used through the youth special rate which provides basic monthly voice / video calls, letters, and data of 750MB per month with 32,890 won($30) per month (including VAT).

The color of  phone is blue silver and comes with two cases, Little Ryan and Little Muzi.
The background and lock screen can be set to any of the eight Kakao Little Friends characters.




2018년 6월 6일 수요일

Korean Smartphone market share in the first quarter of 2018


Samsung Electronics gained a 60% share of the Korean smartphone market in Q1.

According to Strategy Analytics (SA), a market research firm, Samsung Electronics shipped 3.9 million units in the domestic smartphone market in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 65.3% of the market.

Apple ranks second with 16.7% (1 million units) and LG Electronics third with 12.2% (700,000 units).

Samsung Electronics increased its share compared to the previous quarter or the same quarter of last year due to early release of the Galaxy S9. The Galaxy S9 series exceeded 1 million units in domestic market in about 60 days since its launch on March 16.

According to the same survey, Samsung Electronics accounted for 58.2% of the Korean smartphone market in the first quarter of last year. 18.2% for Apple and 14.9% for LG Electronics.

In 4Q of last year, Samsung Electronics' market share dropped to 46.0% due to Apple's 10th year anniversary iPhone X, iPhone 8 and others. Apple's share in the quarter was 28.3%, the highest ever in the Korean market. LG Electronics was 15.7%.

In the first quarter of this year, global smartphone market grew by 2% compared to last year, while domestic smartphone market shipment increased by 9% from 5.5 million to 6 million in the first quarter of last year.








The Seoul City on 43rd anniversary edition of the fashion magazine 'Vogue Brazil'


The cover of the 43rd anniversary edition of the fashion magazine 'Vogue Brazil' featured world-renowned super model Alessandra Ambrosia in Seoul, one of cutting-edge city in the world.

On April 28, a photo from Vogue Brazil on the Instagram showed a surprise to Korean on the other side of the globe.

Vogue Brazil, along with photos, explained that "the exciting city of Seoul was an ideal city to commemorate our 43rd anniversary." The 40 pictures that were released on May 2 did not betray our expectations.
The people who flew 17,570 kilometers captured the streets of Seoul from the stranger's gaze.
The photographer Rafael Pavarotti did not look at Myeongdong or Namsan, which foreign tourists often visit.
Instead, the locals crowded around the Hongdae alley and the suburbs of a quiet temple to find an exotic impression in the frame.
The appearance of Seoul seen from the perspective of foreigners is felt very much to Korean who have a place of life here.



Three weeks after the release of the picture, Vogue Brazil talked about the behind-the-scenes footage in Seoul.
The cover model Alessandra expressed a great surprise by saying "It was more than I imagined". In particular, she said she was impressed with Korea's advanced technology development.
Alessandra, who is famous for the "Eternal Muses of Victoria Secret", is a model that is deeply related to Korea.
She worked as an advertising model for LG in Korea in 2010.
For 8 years since she went back to Brazil, things seemed changed quiet a lot in Korea.

"It was a really special experience to shoot at Wawoo temple."
Brazil vogue photographers who walked every corner of Seoul, such as fancy streets and five-star hotels, caught up with the unexpected place to grab a moment to be a art.
The Wawoo temple in Yongin City captivates the strangers with a unique mood.
Wawoo, a famous temple with a huge 'Budda statue' (8m high), is founded in 1970 by Seo Jae-ja, a Buddhist monk, to pray for the unification of North and South.
Alessandra and Vogue Brazil also built their own miniature stone statue here.

Koreans who have seen photos where the places of their everyday life become the background of the 'Hip' pictorial found it fresh and interesting. However, there were also voices pointing out that those who produced the pictures did not have a deep understanding of Korea.
It is as if the scene that seems to simulate the Harajuku of Tokyo is conspicuous.
Indeed, Vogue Brazil has expressed Hongdae Street as 'Korea's Harajuku' in the pictorial article. However, Hongdae street is distinctive in its own way so that it does not needed to be expressed by the name of another area.