According to a release by GfK Korea, South Korea saw 11 million smartphones sold over the last 12 months, hitting US$5.4 billion in value – an increase of more than 400,000 units from the previous year, over the time right now 85% of mobile phones in South Korea are smartphones.
“Last year, over four in five mobile phones purchased were smartphones, making us a nation with one of the fastest rates of adoption and highest level of penetration in the world,” Moongen Kwon, general manager of GfK Korea, said in the statement.
Adding further, “With the country’s high Internet connectivity, users have a more compelling reason to upgrade their telecommunication device from the basic feature phone to the more advanced smartphone. Last year, over four in five mobile phones purchased were smartphones, making us a nation with one of the fastest rate of adoption and highest level of penetration in the world.”
Kwon also pointed that the country’s smartphone industry will continue to evolve with a more high, in an urge to indicate to how the launch of LTE or 4G in the country as LTE coverage by 2012 would gives users incentive to upgrade from 3G to LTE-enabled smartphones.
