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The mobile phone industry in South Korea consists of domestic network infrastructure provision and the production of consumer mobile handsets.
In 1984, Korea Mobile Telecommunications Service, a subsidiary of Korea Telecom which was later renamed to SK Telecom, started its mobile communications service with the car phone. [1]
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In 2009, KT was the first network to introduce the iPhone to South Korea. [5] The origins of South Korea's domestic smartphone production industry can be traced to Samsung's release of their first smartphone, a reaction to Apple's iPhone, which was well-received by the South Korean population.[ citation needed ]
Later, as the smartphone sector continued to grow, South Korean LG Electronics also joined this competition. Unlike Apple and Samsung, LG's business strategy was to make more affordable devices rather than devices with higher specifications. Eventually, LG shifted to offering phones with a better camera and higher screen quality which increased their cost of goods; however, the sales of their phones did not improve. [6]
LG announced its decision to exit the smart phone market in April, 2021 due to their continued net loss in this sector. Until now, Apple and Samsung have held the largest market shares, with LG trailing behind. Apple tried to capitalize on LG's exit of the smart phone market by advertising its products on LG's displays within markets. [7] [8] Samsung also took this opportunity to offer existing LG customers competitive deals on new Samsung phones such as running trade-in events for used LG smartphones.[ citation needed ] Competition between the two manufacturers in the South Korean market is still on-going.[ citation needed ]
Current South Korean producers of mobile phones include:
Former South Korean producers of mobile phones include:
Samsung and Apple have the largest market shares in Korea.[ citation needed ]
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There are three mobile phone service providers and they are currently deploying their 5G networks.
As of 2004 [update] the market shares of the three companies were believed to be: SK Telecom's 50 percent, Korea Telecom's 30 percent and LG Telecom's 20 percent. [11]
In South Korea, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) is the telecommunications authority.
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) supports Qualcomm's research and development of CDMA and CDMA2000 technology.
Regarding the Korean mobile phone industry's overseas experiences, SK Telecom has helped the first mobile phone service companies in Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, etc. In China, it helped China Unicom's CDMA implementation, both technically and financially.[ citation needed ]
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP, UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunication Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for networks based on the competing cdmaOne technology. UMTS uses wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technology to offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators.
3G is the third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology. It is the upgrade to 2G, 2.5G, GPRS and 2.75G Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution networks, offering faster data transfer, and better voice quality. This network was superseded by 4G, and later by 5G. This network is based on a set of standards used for mobile devices and mobile telecommunications services and networks that comply with the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications set by the International Telecommunication Union. 3G is used in wireless voice telephony, mobile Internet access, fixed wireless Internet access, video calls and mobile TV.
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks. Bell Mobility is the third-largest wireless carrier in Canada, with 10.1 million subscribers as of Q3 2020.
SK Telecom Co., Ltd., abbreviated as SKT is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. SK Telecom is the largest wireless carrier in South Korea, with 23 million subscribers as of Q4 2023.
4G is the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology, succeeding 3G and preceding 5G. A 4G system must provide capabilities defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in IMT Advanced. Potential and current applications include amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing, and 3D television.
WiBro is a wireless broadband Internet technology developed by the South Korean telecoms industry. WiBro is the South Korean service name for IEEE 802.16e international standard. By the end of 2012, the Korean Communications Commission intends to increase WiBro broadband connection speeds to 10 Mbit/s, around ten times the 2009 speed, which will complement their 1 Gbit/s fibre-optic network. The WiBro networks were shut down at the end of 2018.
Pantech Inc. is a South Korean company that manufactures mobile phones. Established in 1991, its market is mainly domestic with partners in the United States, Japan, China, Europe and Vietnam. In 2012 Pantech was the second best-selling handset maker in South Korea, according to Gartner. In 2013 Samsung Electronics bought a 10% stake in Pantech. Pantech also partners with PCD for specialized phones.
KT Freetel Co., Ltd. was a South Korean telecommunications firm, now merged into Korea Telecom, specializing in cellular, or mobile, phones. Since 1999, it has also developed extensive overseas operations. The company is credited with developing customized ring back tones. On 1 June 2009, KTF was merged with KT.
SK hynix Inc. is a South Korean supplier of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips and flash memory chips. SK Hynix is one of the world's largest semiconductor vendors.
Anycall was a South Korean mobile phone brand established by Samsung Electronics in 1993. It was once the most popular mobile phone brand in the country, having been the leader since 1995. Samsung mobile phones were sold through the Anycall brand in South Korea and the greater China region prior to 2011. The brand was eventually retired during the 2010s when it only remained in use for feature phones.
KT Corporation, formerly Korea Telecom, is a South Korean telecommunications company. KT is the second-largest wireless carrier in South Korea, with 13.5 million subscribers as of Q4 2023.
LG Uplus Corp. (Korean: LG유플러스; stylized as LG U+, KRX: 032640) is a South Korean mobile network operator owned by LG Corporation. It was formerly known as LG Telecom, but changed to its current name on July 1, 2010. LG Uplus is the second-largest wireless carrier in South Korea, with 18.411 million subscribers as of Q4 2023.
CYON was LG Electronics's mobile phone brand for the domestic South Korean market. LG established the brand in 1997. It was used until 2011, when LG Electronics retired the Cyon brand and all new mobile phones were rebranded as LG.
Ericsson-LG is a joint venture company owned by the Swedish group Ericsson (75%) and the South Korean group LG Electronics (25%). Founded in July 2010, Ericsson-LG designs and markets devices for telecommunications network operators and enterprises in South Korea.
In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals, based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA standards. It improves on those standards' capacity and speed by using a different radio interface and core network improvements. LTE is the upgrade path for carriers with both GSM/UMTS networks and CDMA2000 networks. Because LTE frequencies and bands differ from country to country, only multi-band phones can use LTE in all countries where it is supported.
China's mobile phone industry or cell phone industry has high growth rate, raising its share on the global mobile phone market. During 2007, 600 million mobile phones were made in China which accounted for over 25 percent of the global production. China is the largest market in terms of mobile phone subscribers.
International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced are the requirements issued by the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2008 for what is marketed as 4G mobile phone and Internet access service.
3G mobile telephony was relatively slow to be adopted globally. In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially so to achieve high data transmission rates. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading transmission hardware, especially for UMTS, whose deployment required the replacement of most broadcast towers. Due to these issues and difficulties with deployment, many carriers delayed acquisition of these updated capabilities.
