Last month we discovered that Apple Pay support in South Korea was set to be enabled in iOS 16.4. With the public release coming soon, it was possible Apple was waiting for that launch. However, arriving sooner, it looks like support for Apple’s contactless payment is now live in the country.
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Apple Pay is coming soon to South Korea, but unfortunately, users there will have to wait a bit longer than expected. This is because the local Financial Supervisory Service had to review the terms and conditions of Apple Pay before its official launch in the country, which would have made Apple put the launch in South Korea on hold.
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Apple has announced that the largest Apple Store in South Korea will soon be opening, in the capital Seoul. The store will be located in the city’s historical center of Jung-gu.
The Cupertino company says that the Center Point Myeong-dong store will offer a source of inspiration …
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A strange report today claims that an Apple executive attempted to “physically” deter a Korean antitrust probe by an investor. It also alleges that the company hampered an investigation by the country’s official regulator.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) says that it intends to fine Apple for obstructing its investigation, and refer the company for prosecution …
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A number of Korean smartphone retailers are threatening legal action against Apple over what they consider an unfair policy on display models.
They say that Apple’s approach imposes unreasonable costs on them …
Up until today, users in the Republic of Korea were being charged with U.S. Dollars, which were then converted back to the Korean Won for its App Store policies.
The Apple Watch, originally launched in nine countries, hits seven more today – with a further rollout on July 17th. Apple has so far added the July 17th date to its websites in the Netherlands, Sweden and Thailand.
The countries going live today include Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan …
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Korean news site MK Business News (via Reuters) is reporting that Samsung will make 75% of the A9 chip for the next iPhone. This matches an earlier detailed prediction by KGI Research, which stated that the balance of the chips would be made by Global Foundry, and is in line with a statement by Samsung which last year confirmed it as a major supplier of the new chip.
The Samsung-fabbed chips will, says the report, be made in the USA …
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Apple has announced that it will be rolling out the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to an additional 36 countries this month, bringing the total number of markets to 69. The latest rollout will begin with India and Monaco alongside China on Friday.
Apple today announced that iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the biggest advancements in iPhone history, will arrive in 36 additional countries and territories across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa by the end of October. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in a total of 69 countries and territories by the end of the month and are on track to be available in more than 115 countries by the end of the year, making this the fastest iPhone rollout ever …
Component orders by Apple for the iPhone 6 are a significant factor in the current thriving state of a number of Asian economies, say analysts and government officials cited by the WSJ.
Analysts expect companies from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea that supplied earlier versions of the iPhone to produce key components like displays, camera lenses and microprocessors. Already, some of those companies are announcing increased earnings or forecasts, and economists and analysts are talking about an Apple effect on whole sectors and economies …
Photo: ibtimes.com
After warning earlier this month that Q2 didn’t “look too good,” Samsung today released its earnings preview for the second quarter of 2014. The South Korean company reported an operating profit of $7.1 billion (7.2 trillion won), missing analyst estimates of $8 billion (8.1 trillion won). This comes out to a 24 percent drop year over year (via Bloomberg).
Reuters is reporting that Samsung’s lawsuit against Apple in South Korea, aiming to ban Apple phones and tablets, has been lost. The case dates back to the patent wars of 2011 where Apple and Samsung sued each for patent infringement other around the world.
Samsung’s claims revolved around messaging and content display. The judge said Apple’s devices do not violate the claims. The court threw out the possibility of a sales ban as well as rejecting damages totalling just under $100,000.
Samsung is currently deciding whether to appeal. Unsurprisingly, Apple was pleased with the decision.
“We are glad the Korean court joined others around the world in standing up for real innovation and rejecting Samsung’s ridiculous claims,” Apple Korea spokesman Steve Park said.
Apple just issued a press release to confirm the iPhone 5 would land in South Korea and 50 additional countries in December. Apple noted that it has currently launched the iPhone 5 in 47 countries. Moreover, with the December launches announced today, it is on track to meet its goal of 100 countries by the end of the year.
South Korea will officially get the device Dec. 7, while other countries will get access Dec. 14, followed by another launch Dec. 21. Here’s the full list:
iPhone 5 will be available in South Korea on Friday, December 7 and on Friday, December 14 in Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. iPhone 5 will also be available on Friday, December 21 in Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.
Apple’s full press release is below:
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This is not the first time Apple has been asked by government to alter imagery in its new Maps app. Google and others already work with authorities around the globe to obscure imagery of sensitive locations such as military bases. Taiwan wants images of an early-warning radar facility blurred in the app, and the Korea Times (via SearchEngineLand) reported the South Korean government is now requesting changes too:
Korea has protested to Apple Inc. over its new English-language mapping service for the iPhone, which shows both Korean and Japanese names for Dokdo, the South’s easternmost islets, an official said Wednesday… iOS 6 mobile operating software simultaneously uses Korean, Japanese and a Franco-English name, the Liancourt Rocks, to describe Dokdo, which is also claimed by Japan.
“We protested to Apple’s Korean unit that, because Dokdo is clearly an integral part of our territory, the new reference is unacceptable and it should be marked as the Korean name of Dokdo wherever it is searched for,” the official said.
“Although Apple is a private organization, this is an issue that our government cannot concede on. So, we will continue reiterating our stance and requesting Apple to accept our demand,” the official said.
Google also takes the approach of using both the Korean and English names in its Maps, as does Apple for other locations where naming varies by language. That approach isn’t acceptable to South Korean officials.
After weeks of delays and claims about Sharp not being ready for mass production of the next-generation iPhone screens, The Wall Street Journal reported Sharp is now delivering iPhone 5 displays to Apple with mass production beginning earlier this week. The Wall Street Journal seemed confident that Sharp, LG Display, and Japan Display are the only display suppliers of initial iPhone 5 shipments—with no mention of Samsung.
Mass production of the screens for the iPhone 5, which Apple unveiled Wednesday, began earlier this week at Sharp’s factory in central Japan, the person said…That Sharp has started delivering screens could ease concerns about whether Apple will have enough components to meet global demand for the new iPhone. Sharp is one of the three suppliers of the screens, the others being Japan Display Inc. and South Korea’s LG Display Co…
A Seoul court ruled Friday that Apple infringed on two of Samsung’s technology patents and “must stop selling the infringing products in South Korea.” In addition, the judge said Samsung infringed on Apple’s “bounceback” design patent but not its icon design patent. These only apply to older model Apple products (perhaps pre-Qualcomm, now Apple is indemnified?), from the sound of it, and the damages are in the tens of thousands of dollars, which is meaningless.
Samsung vehemently objected to pictures of Steve Jobs in Apple’s opening slides for today’s massive trial, but U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh struck down the objections over the weekend.
The South Korea-based smartphone manufacturer claimed the “gratuitous images have no evidentiary value,” as it filed 14 objections to Apple’s opening slides.
The company further noted, as FOSS Patents reported, if Apple is given permission to use these slides, Samsung will “request that the Court allow it to use the quotes from Mr. Jobs — which do have nonprejudicial evidentiary value — and yet were excluded by the Court’s ruling on Apple’s Motion in Limine No. 7.”
In other words, Samsung wants to use the “thermonuclear war” quotes from Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs biography” if Apple can use images of the company’s late founder. The contentious quotes from the biography were previously deemed hearsay and inadmissible in this litigation.
According to FOSS Patents, Apple explained the use of the pitcures in its responsive filing:
- Three of the images are “from a joint exhibit – 1091 (the MacWorld 2007 video), which Samsung itself relies on in its opening demonstratives (at Samsung slide no. 148)”, so “Samsung cannot complain about Apple’s use of the same video” that shows “the public introduction of the iPhone on January 7, 2007, which launched the fame that the iPhone trade dress has acquired”. Also, “[b]ecause they demonstrate Apple’s notice of the 200+ patents covering the iPhone — including the asserted patents, they thus are relevant to willfulness”.
- Another slide refers to an exhibition relating to Steve Jobs’s patents, which was organized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. “Among the highlighted patents at the PTO exhibit are at least two patents at issue in this litigation — the D’677 and D’889” — and Apple argues that “[t]he Patent Office exhibit demonstrates praise by others to rebut non-obviousness”.
- The fifth image of Steve Jobs in the presentation is “a screenshot from the announcement of the iPad in July 2010” and, therefore, “relevant to the introduction of the iPad and its acquisition of fame and secondary meaning”, Apple says.
Judge Koh overruled Samsung’s objections on Sunday and said the images are “relevant to Apple’s iPhone design patent and trade dress claims and is not unduly prejudicial.”
Get the full report at FOSS Patents.
Samsung officially appointed a new CEO today to replace Choi Gee-Sung, who will now take up a position as head of corporate strategy overseeing Samsung Group’s roughly 80 companies. Choi, who was CEO for over three decades, will be replaced by Kwon Oh-hyun, who Reuters explained is currently head of Samsung’s components business and has deep relationships with Apple. Samsung made a statement claiming there will be no major changes in the way the company operates, because Kwon will continue to run the components business that “became the sole supplier of the mobile processors” for iPhone and iPad under his leadership:
The South Korean group named Kwon Oh-hyun as its new CEO. Currently head of Samsung’s components business, which oversees chips and display, Kwon cemented Samsung’s position in memory chips, where it has almost 50 percent global market share, and expanded into non-memory, or logic chips, which now account for 40 percent of Samsung’s overall semiconductor revenue… Under Kwon, Samsung became the sole supplier of the mobile processors that power Apple’s iPhone and iPad – rival products to Samsung’s own Galaxy and Note. The 59-year-old former engineer, who studied electrical engineering at Seoul National University and Stanford, has also led a restructuring of Samsung’s LCD flat-screen business.
This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.com
Earlier this month Apple launched the new iPad in South Korea and 11 other countries, and today the company continues its international launch of the device with an additional nine countries. At Apple’s Q2 2012 earnings call this week, the company reported iPad sales of 11.8 million for the quarter and $6.6 billion in revenue from iPad and accessories. It also reported tremendous growth for iPhone in China, which is one country that is not included in today’s international rollout:
Beginning on Friday, April 27, the new iPad will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.
Apple, the world’s most valuable company, sells just one phone, the iPhone. The Cupertino, Calif., company emphasizes design and profitability over sales. It also invests heavily in its consumer brand and its tightly controlled retail stores, and it benefits from a strong ecosystem of software and apps.
Meanwhile, Samsung, the world’s largest tech company by revenue last year, goes for scale. The South Korean company is a fast-follower that places its bets broadly, creating multiple versions of myriad products such as its Galaxy smartphones to suit partners’ needs. It maximizes profits by controlling its own manufacturing
Apple just published a press release that confirms the new iPad will launch in 12 additional countries Friday, April 20. Along with the 12 countries listed below, Apple confirmed an April 27 international launch date for nine more countries:
In addition to South Korea, the new iPad also will be available beginning on Friday, April 20 in Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. Beginning on Friday, April 27, the new iPad will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.
Go past the break for the full press release.
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Bloomberg quotes a Gartner analyst:
“I don’t expect Apple to replace Samsung any time soon,” Gartner analyst Sandy Shen said in an interview. “China Telecom [story] is the nation’s smallest carrier, so the extent to which they can help Apple is quite limited.”
The 16.8 percentage-point gap in China between Cupertino, California-based Apple and Samsung almost doubled from the third quarter. While Samsung is No. 1 and Apple No. 5 in China, the global story is different: Worldwide, Apple passed its Suwon, South Korea-based competitor to become the biggest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter, according to Gartner.
When you consider that the iPhone is not yet made for China’s dominant carrier, which holds two-thirds of a BILLION customers, the news that Samsung is gaining market share on Apple is not surprising (15 million iPhones ride on incompatible China Mobile).
I will be surprised, however, if Apple does not close the gap next year. The sixth-generation iPhone will almost certainly work on China Mobile’s network.
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Apple just announced its Q1 2012 earnings in a press release a few minutes ago, which revealed very impressive numbers from the company. Apple revealed it sold a whopping 37 million iPhones during the holiday quarter, which now gives the company the No. 1 smartphone manufacturer spot —back from Samsung, who previously held the title. Earlier this month, Samsung gave estimates of 35 million phones sold during the holiday quarter. This means Apple beat the company by 2 million.
Check out the full announcement and the live blog coming up in a few minutes for more record setting figures from Apple.
You’d think one of the top-rated smartphones by Consumer Reports would become a smash hit in tech-crazy South Korea where people don’t settle for anything less but the very greatest gadgets. Heck, even Hong Kong shoppers turned to South Korea because pre-orders in their home country sold out in ten minutes. But according to Korea Times, local carriers SK Telecom and KT are struggling to hit the promised sales target agreed with Apple.
They apparently sold below 150,000 pre-orders since the device hit South Korea November 4. The story came from the mouth of an unnamed SK Telecom executive and a 31-year-old iPhone 4 user who dropped a planned iPhone 4S purchase due to “hardware-related issues”.
Seriously? Didn’t we establish battery woes as software-driven? The report cites other woes such as noises during 3G-based calls and while operating video functions. Let’s be honest here, iPhone 4S does have its share of teething problems, just like any other Apple product. But the South Koreans appear to be really freaking out over a lack of 4G LTE:
The rising appetite for LTE smartphones in South Korea replaces any desire for the Apple iPhone 4S, officials and experts said.
4G LTE has hit the ground running in the country. Carriers SK Telecom and LG Uplus sold over 500,000 pricey LTE plans since late-September introduction. The Korea Communications Commission expects the number of LTE phone users in the country to top 1.5 million by the year’s end. Not having support for 4G LTE radio technology on the iconic device in the 48 million people market that is leading the world in Internet speeds and is defined by the demanding, tech-savvy consumers? Yeah, this can lead to some friction.
Besides, Siri doesn’t speak Korean (yet) and South Korea is also Samsung’s home turf. And it’s not like iPhone 4S users in some other markets aren’t feeling buyer’s remorse. Us? Forget the handset, it’ll be old news by the next summer anyway. What matters is that with the iPhone 4S came Siri, an exclusive feature deemed a world-changing event, and rightfully if we may add.
