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| Apple Korea claimed on its website that it had contributed to creating 325,000 jobs in Korea. / Captured from Apple Korea's website |
By Jun Ji-hye
Apple Korea is under fire for exaggerating the number of jobs it has created here since it started operations in 1998, according to IT industry sources, Tuesday.
They said the company's claim that it has contributed to creating 325,000 jobs and helped the Korean economy to grow was unconvincing, given that it only has 500 employees.
The industry sources said the Korean unit of the U.S. tech giant exaggerated the figures by claiming it had created jobs indirectly at its business partners such as POSCO, and at Netmarble, Kakao Bank and other IT companies that use the App Store ecosystem.
"The calculation is ridiculous," an official from a smartphone maker here said, asking not to be named. "To borrow Apple Korea's words, a company may be able to say that it indirectly employs a worker at a petrol station if a CEO's driver fills up a vehicle at that petrol station."
Apple Korea said on its website that it began its business in Korea two decades ago with two employees, but now has 500 employees including designers and engineers.
The company also said it created 125,000 jobs indirectly through partners such as POSCO and Poongsan Corporation, and 200,000 jobs through its App Store ecosystem.
As an example, it cited Netmarble, one of the nation's leading game companies, saying the firm turned its attention to the mobile game business after the iPhone was released. It claimed that game developers account for 60 percent of the game company's employees.
Apple Korea added that Kakao Bank became an innovative fintech company by offering its financial services through iPhones and iPads.
This was the first time for Apple Korea to disclose detailed figures related to employment.
An official from a game company here said, however, that Apple Korea's argument was hard to understand.
"Google also operates an app store. It is absurd for Apple to make such a claim, as if its app store was the only one that has contributed to the employment of game developers," he said. "In that case, I think semiconductor makers have helped create more jobs because their products contribute to smartphone production."
Officials also claimed that Apple had shown a "two-faced" attitude, pointing out that CEO Tim Cook told President Donald Trump Friday that new tariffs would make it hard for Apple to compete with Samsung Electronics.
"Apple has moved to hold Korean companies in check in the United States, but pretended to be a good company in Korea," the smartphone maker official said.
Apple has been embroiled in a series of controversies over its "unfair" policies in Korea.
The company was investigated by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations it abused its powerful market position to shift the burden of advertising costs and other expenses to Korea's mobile carriers. Apple Korea vowed in July to redress the abuses, asking the FTC to stop its deliberation process.
The company also faced protests from smartphone retailers who claimed Apple had pressed them to buy in-store iPhones used only for display and other promotional purposes.
