although a mighty technopolis Post-Millennium : South Korea is in a unique iPhone-position due to the facts that :
- it is the very home-ground of major competitor whose government is NOT Made By The People, NOR For The People, but operates in close synchronization with big business since reviving from the ashes of modern war .
- the very concept of Apple’s inter-platform synchronizing iTunes is much foreign in a land where the age of PC personal-computing was borne from casual copying of software .
- there is still NO Official Apple Store by the end of 2014 on the Korean Peninsula except On-Line, which is more of a shipping hub than a full-fledged branch like neighboring Japan or China -_-
- South Korea is constantly on the latter third-tier of countries where a new iPhone or iPad is to be released,
thus the following has been accumulated through various statistics reports(which really is a ball-park number tampered by its issuer and affiliates), and tweaked to my personal perception of The Force (of Star Wars fame) throughout the Korean Peninsula circa November 2014, almost a Month after the latest iPhone 6 and Plus release :
[ iPhone National Distribution, User Age and Carriers ]- iPhone was introduced into Korea at the end of 2009 in belated 3GS, and at its height during 4 and 4S amounted to almost 25% of total cellular users throughout the Peninsula, but its popularity had dropped acutely to 5% at best at the end of 5S term during 2014 -_-
- still among which majority of iPhone users are in their thirties amounting to 45%, and next twenties 35% while forties take-up 15% of age .
- 55% of Korean iPhone users subscribe to KT, while 40% use SKT cellular carriers, and note LGT has just been added as now its frequencies compatible with the new iPhone 6 and Plus !
- 25% of iPhone user subscribed to a whopping W60,000-per-Month plan, while 20% W50,000 / 15% W40,000 and another 15% W30,000 .. due to data usage .
[ Geographical Concentration ]
- nation-wide : iPhone is predominantly concentrated around the Capital of SEOUL, with the only exception being the tourist and Summer vacation migration destination of HaeUnDae Beach at East-end of the Port City of Busan at the South-East tip of the Korean Peninsula .
- within MetroPolitan SEOUL – including its hand-ful of satellite cities : iPhone is concentrated into fashion-trendy and party-hubs of
- old downtown SEOUL encompassing City Hall, MyeongDong and JongRo,
- the riche new area South of the Han River in KangNam,
( further divided into haute couture and foreign import automobile mecca of ApGuJeong, young trend spot KangNam Subway Station and COEX Exhibition Complex at SamSung Subway Station ) - and the fusion restaurant and club scene around Hong-ik University renowned for its art department, called HongDae in short,
- plus a small concentration around YongSan US Base, iTaeWon shopping street and HanNamDong expatriate residence .
- thus over-all mainly concentrated in newest fashion trend and/or international business/scholastic/mind-set regions .. which is quite small in an already small land-mass //
[ iPhone 6 and Plus ]
- at the time of iPhone 6 and Plus release : 35% of iPhone users had 5S while another 35% 5 and then the rest 4S and older models .
- 50% of newest iPhone 6 and Plus purchasers subscribed to telecommunication companies, instead of purchasing an unlocked device .
- among iPhone 6 and Plus capacity : 64GB is dominantly popular,
- most preferred iPhone 6 and Plus colors are in order : black, gold and the silver .
Korea Tech BLog’s read-along today :
” That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from my sight .
Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower .
We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind .”- William Wordsworth