Yet More on the "iPhone Effect" in Korea's Telecoms Market

One part of the "iPhone Effect" or the "iPhone Shock" to the Korean market is becoming clearer.  An article in today's Chosun Ilbo is headlined "The iPhone Casts Clouds for Korean Handset Makers."  The article notes that Korea's mobile phone exports for the first quarter of 2010 were down 11.4 percent compared to a year ago, mainly because Samsung and LG are unable to compete strongly in the surging "smartphone" segment, led by Apple's iPhone and the Google-based Android phones.

This is just another strong piece of evidence that Korea's leading handset manufacturers and exporters bear a big part of the responsibility for the two and a half year delay in bringing the iPhone to Korea.