UPDATE #1 – Didn't know that the market is already crippled here. Not good news for the immediate future for Korea and the iPhone, Read this thread about the issue of not only the CDMA and compatibility, but about other little protocol requirements that the Korean Ministry of Communication has used to keep the Korean cellphone market Korean. And here, all this time, I thought it was pure consumer nationalism and strong Anycall phones. Unfair, dude! (And thanks, Brendon, for being a pillar of that thread.)
I still think that the logic and economics of cool still dictate that the iPhone released in the Korean market will wipe the floor with the phones of its competitors.
And as for using the phone? I might just buy one from the States anyway, if and when I can use SKYPE from it, since it (or a widgetized version of it) will run on the Mac OS loaded into the phone. Surely, someone's gonna make a version that's gonna let SKYPE use the phone in a WiFi area. With access to Nespot, this little baby should still be quite useful. Worth thinking about.
-------------
Now, I don't have any inside information here, and haven't heard any specifics about how the iPhone will come out here in Korea. So this is the perfect time to make some educated-but-wild guesses and see what happens. See if ya'll agree with my logic.
CONFIDENT PREDICTION #1 – Apple Korea go with Korea Telecom (KT) as the sole carrier for the iPhone, which is their way, because they are particular about standards and want stability when it comes to making sure their product isn't crippled by technical issues. KT (the company with the prefix 011) also serves Nespot, the wireless internet service that is cheap and ubiquitous in Korea. There are, effectively, no competitors. Apple will want the carrier with the strongest service and coverage, both in cell and wireless services, for this phone/Internet product. KT is the clear choice.
CONFIDENT PREDICTION #2 – Cellphone prices will plummet if this things enters the Korean market uncrippled, because the iPhone is like the sexy girl who just moved in next door and likes to sunbathe in a pink thong and nipple pasties, while Samsung Anycall's basic menu layout and system software hasn't effectively changed in like 5 years, and is like the other girl next door who drinks beer and gives chunky belches on her porch to passersby, since she hasn't had any competition, anyway. And now, of course she hates thong-and-pasty girl and will go on a crash diet-and-exercise regiment and come out swinging looking a lot better – but too bad thong-and-pasties girl is a genetically-engineered sex cyborg from the planet Venus. Who can compete with that?
CONFIDENT PREDICTION #3 – And for 600,000 won, to boot? My prediction on the price. Samsung and the other manufacturers behind them are crapping their pants right now, since the Korean cellphone market is so saturated. Yeah, Koreans are more apt to buy new cellphones every year or so than Americans, say, but really – now the consumer is eyeing that sexy new iPhone in the window next to the suddenly very iPhone-like clones that will not being able to avoid looking like the lame wannabees that they will undeniably be. Has this happened before? Umm, hello, white iRiver with white scroll slide (because using a full scroll wheel would have violated Apple's patent). Embarrassing, but inevitable. Anyone seen trying to talk to beer-and-belches girl will be soundly mocked.
LOFTY HOPE #1 – That Apple Korea will get all its ducks in a row and get an iTunes Korea store running so that they can make domestic partnerships and allow people to use the FULL potential of the iPhones (which are just iPods, you know) and get content downloaded. Yeah, there are still problems with copyright protection and pirating, but there's also a pretty healthy DMB market that seems to be finding Koreans more than willing to waste money for connection privileges. You also would open up the market to easy podcasting and the heralded "UCC" that Korean portal sites crow about, despite the fact being that there is not real democratic distribution network to allow "user created content" to be seen except on...portal sites. Who's really getting used here? Apple will have a much larger user base and people on buses and subways itching to not be bored, coupled with a huge latent desire to be the next "UCC" superstar. iTunes and podcasting are free added-value content. Hello, perfect opportunity? Get that iTunes Korea store working and deliver the killing blow, please. I'd like to see a lot of these sheisty companies, who've been resting on their laurels and a captive market, die an ignominious death.
LOFTY HOPE #2 – iPhones with Macs are like chocolate and peanut butter: they just go great together. Sexy, clear iPhone docks with sleek and naughty white Macbook. Ooooh. Gives me the shivers. But more than that, it's a perfect trojan (ahem) horse to get even more Mac users, since the iPhone is running OS X and you're getting people used to software made right, and is a pleasure to use. More people will start noticing that – oho! – the Mac computer works just as sleekly and sexily well as that iPhone they just bought – umm, and Macs crash a lot less, too. At the very least, the colors and styles will match. And lame, Korean-brand knockoff notebooks that copy the Mac's case (there's always a whole slew of these machines every time Apple comes out with something new, all trying to wrap up Windoze crap in a silk wrapper). Let's hope that the iPod-cum-iPhone (ahem) will show people why Macs just "feel right." Or at least, for the incorrigibly vain, iPhones and those white Macbooks that now run Windoze just look better together.
LEFT FIELD LONG SHOT CALL – Apple Korea's gonna come out swinging like Mike Tyson in the 1980's when this thing hits the streets, because all the planets are aligning for a grand push up in market share and brand presence like a mofo.
I do hope all my wishes come true!
Let's hear some of yours and check back on this post in a few months. See if I look like a total idiot or a marketing genius. Anyway, it's always fun to speculate. I swear, I have no inside information – just my observations mixed in with a dash of my own hopefulness there.
I waited until the 4th generation before buying an iPod. But I'm gonna be first in line for this baby if and when it hits the streets here. My Samsung piece-of-crap has always been just that – since the day I got it, although my true hatred of my cellphone actually started a few days later. I've suffered with it for more than 3 years.
I would love my new phone to be a sexy piece of Apple machine, baby, yeah! Here's to hoping!