# Why Google Failed and the iPhone Won in Korea. (Recap)

- Link: https://richardmin.com/why-google-failed-and-the-iphone-won-in-korea-recap/
- Published: 2018-08-16T09:10:11+09:00
- Author: Richard Min

I’m always wondering what happen is the past. Seven years. That some span of time!

Samsung has a new mobile phone out. It’s the Galaxy 9 and 9 Plus and it is win here
in this country, Korea. Google, proper, has no mobile phone in Korea (beside Samsung
Galaxy 9 which runs the Android). iPhone is rock solid (in terms of Korea). It’s
now Samsung vs. iPhone.

Now, Apple is now a TRILLION dollars company, Samsung now has the Galaxy 9 out, 
and Google has made a mobile move (slowly)… and voice is coming. AI is coming too.

I wonder what will happen in the mobile space. I’m super excited.

Let’s just see what is coming.

🙂

![applev.samsung.png](https://i0.wp.com/richardmin.com/website_541bd2bf/wp-content/
uploads/2018/08/applev.samsung.png?resize=800%2C397&ssl=1)

---

I am always most appreciative when someone else *ahem[KiraNewman](http://techcocktail.com/author/kira-newman)
cough* can put my rants into text.  So, I’m going with a “don’t fix it if it ain’t
broke” approach to a blog.

Here is a repost of [TechCocktail.com’s article](http://j.mp/uHYenY):

## **Why Google Failed and the iPhone Won in Korea**

October 21, 2011

After over a decade, many sources put Google’s desktop market share in Korea at 
2%; Yahoo! captures about 6%. Nokia [left](http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2009/gb2009047_312923.htm)
Korea in 2003, unable to compete with Samsung and LG, and Walmart [began withdrawing](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/23/business/worldbusiness/23shop.html)
in 2006, failing to adapt to local supermarket culture.

“Korea’s been the giant killer for many years,” says Richard Min, cofounder of incubator
[Seoul Space](http://techcocktail.com/incubator-korea-founded-by-ex-googler-2011-09).“
Pretty much everyone who’s been famous for being #1 worldwide came into Korea and
failed, or didn’t do anything near what they thought they would.”

Part of this may stem from Korea’s isolationist streak, likely encouraged by wars
and occupations in the 20th century. “Korea’s called the hermit nation. We built
this walled garden, this silo, and within it they’re very comfortable,” explains
the New York-born Min, switching between “we” and “they.”

In this reclusive nation, desktop search is dominated by local companies Naver and
Daum, which together control more than 90% of the market. Even TicketMonster’s impressive
[acquisition](http://techcocktail.com/livingsocial-buys-ticketmonster-2011-08) by
LivingSocial spurred some backlash for their selling to an international company,
says Min, who talked with the TicketMonster team when the idea was still a PowerPoint.

Another reason for the “giant killing” may be, simply, that Koreans aren’t impressed–
some features that are new to Americans have long been accepted by Koreans. For 
example, Naver launched knowledge search in 2002, 3 years before the similar Yahoo!
Answers came out. And virtual goods are routine in Korea, arguably the gaming capital
of the world.

“People are like, ‘Wow, you can pay for virtual goods with your cell phone?’ We’re
like, ‘You can’t?!’” jokes Min.

But the wall around the island nation began to crumble in 2009 with the release 
of the iPhone – what Min calls “the first truly disruptive technology to come in
and shake things up.” As of January, 2 million iPhones had sold there, in a country
of less than 50 million people.

The phone’s sleek design may appeal to Koreans’ high fashion sense, and they may
be bringing iPhones home after time spent abroad, but the key must be the apps. 
Not only can Koreans build apps themselves, but apps open the door to new social
interactions. The iPhone becomes just a tool, not an intrusive international technology
trying to change the way things are done.

And ironically, through those same apps, the iPhone is helping other foreign brands
sneak into Korea. “It became the Trojan horse for other international companies 
like Twitter, Facebook,” Min says. Koreans are following international stars on 
Twitter, powerhouse Samsung began releasing Android phones, and Google’s mobile 
market share has reached 15 or 20%.

Short of being a game-changing tech genius, international companies can settle for
finding a competent local partner to help them navigate Korean tastes – mysterious,
picky, but well worth earning.

 

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