Koreans seem to be enjoying a FREE and high standard of living than ever-before, but you cannot help but realize control on the media, as news of iPhone 7 is much toned-down (in comparison to bad rumours against competing Galaxy, as LG is usually out of this turkey, chicken and egg game) when SamSung Electronics is in havoc (at a time of shaking conglomerates : Lotte in inheritance scandal and HanJin in Shipping bankruptcy) from its exploding (actually burning) Galaxy Note 7 .
and as again the nation is left-out of the first tier of countries to release iPhone 7 and PLUS, then even not included in the second tier to begin shipment a Month after that : die-hard Apple-fans throughout the Peninsula sought to find which model released abroad would be the same as that to be eventually introduced in South Korea, in expectation that its warranty will hold here after actual release .
the issue of whether foreign-bought iPhone would be under local warranty changed over the course of each model so-far : as at the time of iPhone 5 Apple Korea did NOT honour it at all, while by iPhone 6 they took it in as long as the model number matched – where American T-Mobile, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan were included .
but in the case of this iPhone 7 : model numbers AND local stance has or seem to have (as nothing is for sure 100% until the day of actual release over South Korea) shifted, as the Korean model is printed to be A1778 the same as Australian and T-Mobile in the States . as is Taiwan, who join the short list of early-release countries, for it is now become one of Apples major supplier of parts . Hong Kong model is now different, as well as Japan which has its own unique model that enables its own payment system .
[ iPhone 7 & PLUS TimeLine South Korea ]
- Week of October 3 Monday – three Weeks after North American launch and two after the second tier of countries to be released : a couple of rare iPhone 7 PLUS Jet Black 128GB begin to sell for over W1,750,000 at South Korean reseller markets . in other words these are black markets selling to-be Korean compatible models from U.S.A.(mostly T-Mobile), Canada, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan .
- October 13 Thursday afternoon : smaller telecommunications branches active on tweets, announced On-Line they will begin taking reservations for iPhone 7 and PLUS from tomorrow, to be released next Friday October 21 . this news immediately brings-down iPhone 7 Jet Black 256GB on independent reseller markets, from W1,350,000 to W1,250,000 while Apple Korea Official website eventually announce their same release date a few days later .
- October 18 Tuesday afternoon : some of those who reserved through telecommunication branches see their apparatus shipped-out, or can pick-up at the branch directly from today .
- October 20 Thursday morning : sleepless eve of iPhone 7 & PLUS Official release date, 7 PLUS Jet Black 256GB (NEW) still sells just over W1,500,000 mark at used On-Line markets .
- Apple Korea’s (which is NOT a real-working branch but mere shipping hub) Official Release Date of iPhone 7 AND PLUS : The ONLY Official Store in South Korea which is On-Line begin selling iPhone 7 AND PLUS at 9am – at which time the Official Website still shows NO purchase link, but only through iPhone or iPad app and on a Mac computer // But Lord be-hold ! ample Jet Blacks even at 256GB AND on PLUS Models are available !!! with Shipping Dates at an astonishing 3~4 DAYS !!!!! All at a time when higher-capacity PLUS Jet Blacks are rare in North America AND Europe alike .
– Korea Tech BLog –