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| Apple's new iPhone models are on display at KT Square in central Seoul, Nov. 2. Courtesy of KT |
By Jun Ji-hye
An increasing number of Korean consumers are turning their backs on Apple based on the notion that iPhones offer a limited scope of functions in addition to the inconvenience of the iOS operating system, while Apple continues to maintain its high price policy.
According to Gallup Korea surveys, 22 percent of Korean consumers said they were willing to buy iPhones as their next smartphones in February 2017, but the figure fell to 17 percent in July this year.
This was attributed to the failure of new iPhones to feature significant improvements over their predecessors, while a technological gap among competitors has been reduced offering more alternatives to consumers.
The U.S. firm recently released several iPhones at the same time ― the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone X ― at higher prices. The 512-gigabyte iPhone XS Max sells for nearly 1.97 million won ($1,750) in Korea, 600,000 won more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 with the same capacity.
An office worker in central Seoul said he used to be a big fan of iPhones, but began to think their functions were limited for their high prices. He was a user of the iPhone 6, but now uses Galaxy Note 8.
"For example, iPhones do not offer a voice call recording feature, which is widely used in Korea," he said. "Plus, I sometimes felt inconvenienced when using Apple's iOS."
He added that Korean customers are unable to use several functions of iPhones that are used in the United States, Japan and China, such as Apple Pay and other near field communication (NFC)-based services.
While Apple Pay has been unavailable in Korea, Samsung Pay, a mobile payment service launched by Samsung Electronics, has dominated the Korean market, with Samsung's smartphones securing more customers.
An owner of a nail care shop in southern Seoul expressed complaints that it has been difficult to receive good quality after-sales repair service when she was using the iPhone.
"I had to wait for days to have my iPhone repaired at Apple's official service center," she said. "I heard many users visited private companies for the repairs as it was difficult to use the official service centers."
The first Apple store in Korea opened in January this year, eight years after the first iPhone landed here in 2009. The first Apple Store came to Japan in 2003 and to China in 2008.
In addition to the dissatisfaction of Korean consumers, Apple has been also facing protests from smartphone retailers in Korea for what they called "unfair" policies, which have pressed them to buy in-store iPhones used only for display and other promotional purposes.
For its part, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has been deliberating on whether Apple Korea has abused its powerful market position and shifted the burden of advertising costs and other expenses to Korean mobile carriers.
The full session of the FTC, which corresponds to a court trial, took place on Dec. 12, while the second session is scheduled for Jan. 16. If the corporate regulator rules the allegations true, Apple Korea could face a fine of tens of billions of won.
