Runners-Up Put On Strong Fight in Smartphone Market

Pantech's spokesmodel, actor Lee Byeong-hyeon shows the company's new Vera Racer smartphone at a launch event at its headquarters in Sangam-dong, Seoul on Thursday.

Apple and Samsung Electronics, which lead Korea's smartphone market, are facing stiff competition from runners-up. Samsung sold 450,000 units of its Galaxy S2 in just two weeks after its release, taking the top spot in the domestic market. Apple's initial dominance following the release of the iPhone 4 has cooled somewhat, but the company is still a formidable force to be reckoned with. But Pantech, LG Electronics and foreign smartphone makers are putting up a good fight with new models.

◆ Pantech

Apple and Samsung stress the overall improvements to their latest models when they release new products, but runners-up tend to highlight particular strengths like speed, ease of use and screen quality.

Pantech is touting the processing speed of its smartphones. It unveiled the Vega Racer on Thursday, one of the company's most ambitious models for this year. The name Racer represents its fastest speed in running applications, as the device is equipped with a 1.5 GHz CPU, some 25 percent faster than the Galaxy S2's 1.2 GHz CPU.

As part of its marketing campaign highlighting the handset's swiftness, Pantech is giving away a W360 million (US$1=W1,087) Ferrari. Pantech vice president Park Byoung-yeop said, "When it comes to speed, the Vega Racer is second to none. We expect to sell at least a million of them in the domestic market".

◆ Other Competitors

New smartphone models are being released nearly every week. Taiwan's HTC released the Sensation on Saturday, KT Tech rolls out the Take Janus at the end of the month, and LG Electronics will debut the Optimus 3D next month.

HTC is pitching the Sensation, its fifth smartphone to hit the Korean market, as the easiest to use. The company has done well overseas, beating Samsung and LG in some markets, but has not been able to do the same here even though it is offering some handsets such as the Nexus One and Desire for free after subsidies. HTC says the Sensation will be different. It enables users to send text messages, check e-mail and SNS messages in one view, and change the main screen to suit their preferences.

LG's strategy is to offer a wide line-up of smartphones to corner the competition. Last month it released the Optimus Black with a brighter screen and an ultra-thin design, followed by the Optimus Big featuring a 4.3-inch display. The Optimus 3D allows users to record images and view them in 3D. LG plans to boost its market share by offering these products at lower prices than its rivals.