KT confirmed it has made "substantial progress" to release Motorola's 4G-based smartphone Atrix, which is disappointing news for SK Telecom. It would mean an end of SK's 23-year-old exclusive partnership with Motorola.
"KT has agreed with Motorola to introduce the U.S. company's strategic smartphone and tablet PC with a plan to introduce it in March, though technical issues still need to be resolved," said KT spokesman Lee In-won, Tuesday, adding the Atrix is on KT's wish list.
Motorola has just joined the ranks of the so-called "KT community" with HTC of Taiwan and Dell and Apple of the United States and a smaller local vendor Pantech, as well as Samsung Electronics, and is quite stable in terms of client bases.
KT is planning to introduce Samsung's "pure Google" handset, the Nexus S, this week which analysts say is preparation for the eventual release of Samsung's Galaxy S2.
A Samsung Electronics spokesman said it is mulling the possibility to sell the Galaxy S2 via KT's sales channels.
"We've been receiving complaints from foreign vendors as they insist that SK Telecom's selected marketing strategies in terms of subsidies and pricing plans are discriminatory," said a high-ranking industry executive.
"SK Telecom is being pressurized to block 'vendor exodus.' We are in a challenging situation. SK Telecom will release the Atrix and Galaxy S2, however, KT has the same plans," said the executive who is directly involved with the matter on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Securing more handset models has emerged as the "critical factor" to gauge the profitability as the nation’s top three carriers including Pantech are involved in fierce competition to increase their own smartphone customers.
Parting ways
As breakthroughs to prevent another disaster amid KT’s vigorous pitches to diversify its client bases, SK Telecom is busy speeding up negotiations with Apple to introduce the upgraded iPhone on the local shelves.
Its former CEO Jung Man-won made headlines in the nation's top local dailies with the admittance of its "conditional interest" to release Apple's iPhone, even with 2G-support.
It was Jung's decision to halt talks with Apple for the 3GS-based iPhone on the local shelves, which was controversial even within SK Telecom.
Unfortunately, the "iPhone talks" have been stalled without finding big turning-points due to Apple's tough requirements, sources who are familiar with the situation, told The Korea Times.
"The former CEO Jung said that the introduction of the iPhones will only materialize if Apple promises to upgrade its after-sales (AS) policies. But should SK Telecom accept all Apple's requirements to introduce the next iPhone itself?" added another industry executive.
"We've seen some results in the first-round of the smartphone competition, however, how could we respond in the second-round. SK Telecom hopes Apple will take a big cue."
High-ranking SK executives declined to comment whether or not it has seen some progress over the strategic talks.
Steve Park, a representative at Apple’s Korean branch, said it’s company policy not to comment on pending issues.
A SK Telecom spokeswoman declined to comment.
"The formula of the iPhone with KT, Android phones with SK Telecom has broken down. SK Telecom claims the `Android kingdom’ has gone south," said the executive.
The "exodus" is not SK Telecom's only issue.
It is also scratching its head to revise up its "unlimited mobile data plan" as it is burdened with more investments for related infrastructure but with less profit.
source. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2011/02/133_81845.html
"KT has agreed with Motorola to introduce the U.S. company's strategic smartphone and tablet PC with a plan to introduce it in March, though technical issues still need to be resolved," said KT spokesman Lee In-won, Tuesday, adding the Atrix is on KT's wish list.
Motorola has just joined the ranks of the so-called "KT community" with HTC of Taiwan and Dell and Apple of the United States and a smaller local vendor Pantech, as well as Samsung Electronics, and is quite stable in terms of client bases.
KT is planning to introduce Samsung's "pure Google" handset, the Nexus S, this week which analysts say is preparation for the eventual release of Samsung's Galaxy S2.
A Samsung Electronics spokesman said it is mulling the possibility to sell the Galaxy S2 via KT's sales channels.
"We've been receiving complaints from foreign vendors as they insist that SK Telecom's selected marketing strategies in terms of subsidies and pricing plans are discriminatory," said a high-ranking industry executive.
"SK Telecom is being pressurized to block 'vendor exodus.' We are in a challenging situation. SK Telecom will release the Atrix and Galaxy S2, however, KT has the same plans," said the executive who is directly involved with the matter on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Securing more handset models has emerged as the "critical factor" to gauge the profitability as the nation’s top three carriers including Pantech are involved in fierce competition to increase their own smartphone customers.
Parting ways
As breakthroughs to prevent another disaster amid KT’s vigorous pitches to diversify its client bases, SK Telecom is busy speeding up negotiations with Apple to introduce the upgraded iPhone on the local shelves.
Its former CEO Jung Man-won made headlines in the nation's top local dailies with the admittance of its "conditional interest" to release Apple's iPhone, even with 2G-support.
It was Jung's decision to halt talks with Apple for the 3GS-based iPhone on the local shelves, which was controversial even within SK Telecom.
Unfortunately, the "iPhone talks" have been stalled without finding big turning-points due to Apple's tough requirements, sources who are familiar with the situation, told The Korea Times.
"The former CEO Jung said that the introduction of the iPhones will only materialize if Apple promises to upgrade its after-sales (AS) policies. But should SK Telecom accept all Apple's requirements to introduce the next iPhone itself?" added another industry executive.
"We've seen some results in the first-round of the smartphone competition, however, how could we respond in the second-round. SK Telecom hopes Apple will take a big cue."
High-ranking SK executives declined to comment whether or not it has seen some progress over the strategic talks.
Steve Park, a representative at Apple’s Korean branch, said it’s company policy not to comment on pending issues.
A SK Telecom spokeswoman declined to comment.
"The formula of the iPhone with KT, Android phones with SK Telecom has broken down. SK Telecom claims the `Android kingdom’ has gone south," said the executive.
The "exodus" is not SK Telecom's only issue.
It is also scratching its head to revise up its "unlimited mobile data plan" as it is burdened with more investments for related infrastructure but with less profit.
source. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2011/02/133_81845.html
No comments:
Post a Comment