Jang Seob Yoon
Research expert covering South Korea
Smartphone market in South Korea - statistics & facts
Home to a major player on the global stage, South Korea boasts a robust, near-saturated smartphone market. Earlier this year, domestic tech giant Samsung Electronics unveiled its Galaxy S24 model, complete with features utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). Given the meteoric rise of AI, stakeholders are anxiously waiting to see if the inclusion of such technology can spark another wave of interest and demand.
Who are the major smartphone producers in South Korea?
Currently, there are only two domestic companies producing smartphones in South Korea: Samsung Electronics and All Life Technology (ALT). The latter company was established in 2017 and mostly manufactures kids’ smartphone models, on top of other tech products. Kids’ smartphones offer limited functionality compared to regular models, as they are designed to protect children and help prevent overdependence on the devices. Previously, there were other domestic smartphone producers such as iRiver (now known as Dreamus), which was well known for dominating the MP3 player market in the early 2000s. LG Electronics was another notable manufacturer before pulling out of the market in 2021.How has the smartphone market developed in South Korea?
Back in 2014, the introduction of the “Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act”, which regulates the value of mobile operator subsidies for new mobile purchases, was the final nail in the coffin for domestic producers such as Pantech and LG. As mobile operators were limited in offering discounts to attract business, the number of customers switching carriers gradually decreased and led to the now largely fixed state of the telecommunications industry in South Korea for mobile devices. Consequently, less popular models and companies gradually fell out of the scene, with Samsung and Apple maintaining their positions in the South Korean smartphone market.Smartphone consumers in South Korea
South Korean consumers tend to prefer the most expensive flagship smartphone models over their less premium counterparts. However, amidst wider economic uncertainty and rising prices of new releases, customers are having their limits tested. Against this backdrop of so called “phone-flation” (phone + inflation), a noticeable portion of people have started exploring second-hand purchases.
