Is Korea ready for smartphones?

American adults these days are obsessed with the BlackBerry, checking their e-mails and returning messages with a whir of thumb movement. Although the BlackBerry is used by people in over 120 countries who number 14 million subscribers, it has failed to catch on in high-tech Korea, where smartphones have had little appeal until now.Even Samsung Electronics’ smartphone, the BlackJack, sold more than 2 million units in North America in 2006. But sales in the Korean market reached slightly more than 30,000 units during the same period. But things could take a new turn as SK Telecom, which has 22 million subscribers, is planning to introduce the BlackBerry here in the second half of this year.
In a countermove, Samsung Electronics announced that it is releasing the BlackJack II later this month, while Taiwan-based HTC is expected to introduce its Touch Dual smart phone later this year.Compared with mobile phones, smartphones have more functions like scheduling, sending and receiving e-mails and accessing the Internet. The conventional mobile phone is used for text messaging and voice communication. “Smartphones are called ‘a palm-sized personal computer,’ as they have a Qwerty-type keypad and access to Windows,” said Yoon Jong-jin, a high-level official at SK Telecom. Laptop computers have the weaknesses of being big and running through battery power quickly. Smartphones, on the other hand, are not only convenient to carry but use very little power. SK Telecom is planning to target salesmen and construction workers, initially. The newest BlackBerry design is expected to be much slimmer. “Korean consumers felt burdened by something larger than a mobile phone,” said Lee Young-soo, a researcher at LG Economic Research Institute. “However, things are changing and larger phones, like LG’s Touch phone, are gaining popularity here.” The BlackBerry, developed by the Canadian company RIM, is expected to reach Korea some time in August. Although the model hasn’t been decided yet, market insiders consider the 8707g model the most likely candidate. This model employs a Qwerty keypad system and has a 320 by 240 pixel color screen. It has a tracking wheel that controls the system from the right-hand side of the screen. The wheel is thumb-operated. It has a Bluetooth communication system allowing wireless access to the Internet, the use of e-mail, a digital camera and a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting system.The BlackJack II, also uses a Qwerty keypad but it has a bigger screen, 2.4 inches, and a jog wheel, which operates more like a mouse, on the front and not on the side.The Samsung smartphone operates on a Windows Mobile 6.0 system and has a 2 mega pixel digital camera with a MicroSD memory slot. It also employs the Bluetooth system. HTC’s Touch Dual is expected to launch in the third quarter of this year and employ a touch system allowing the user to operate or access any function by simply touching the screen, very much like Apple’s iPhone or Samsung Electronics’ Haptic mobile phone. Unlike the BlackBerry or BlackJack, the Touch Dual uses a slide system. By sliding the screen up, a keypad appears, allowing users unfamiliar with the touch system to use a more conventional method. It uses the Windows Mobile 6.0 system and also has a 2 mega pixel digital camera like the BlackJack II and has a MicroSD memory slot.By Kim Chang-woo JoongAng Ilbo/ Lee Ho-jeong JoongAng Ilbo [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]