Since Samsung Electronics release the world’s first Full HD 3D LED TV on February 25th, there has been explosive responses worldwide. Over the past 6 weeks, Samsung’s 3D TV has reached 10,000 in domestic sales, which means that 245 sets have been sold daily,  and just announced that it is expanding its production number from 2 million to 3 million as demands have been higher that expected.

Samsung has applied the ‘2D → 3D converting technology’ that allows the viewers to watch all programs in 3D with a click of the remote. It has a ‘real black filter’ to add shaded depths to bright areas of the scene to give a more dimensional figure. Furthermore, viewers can adjust amongst the 10 levels of the 3D effect. It has higher definition, with a slimmer design of 23.9mm, and is price competitive compared to the existing LED TV model.

Since its launching events in Europe, US, Latin America, and the CIS a month ago as, Samsung is leading a 3D TV fever with its global marketing strategy. Orders have been flooding, that Samsung 3D TV exports had to be shortly delayed.

In Manhattan’s Samsung 3D TV launching event, director of ‘Avatar’ James Cameron showed up and praised Samsung as “Beautiful and a business leader of the TV industry that has brought the 3D entertainment from theaters into our everyday homes.”

ESPN, Sogeocable, SBS have already gained 3D broadcasting rights for the 2010 South Africa Worldcup, which is expected to further boost demand for 3D TVs.

3D is expanding into major motion pictures, animation, home entertainment, concerts, sporting events, broadcasting television, advertising & smartphones. It is clear that the 3D industry is now never like the shows you saw in theme parks with the disposable blue& red glasses. 3D entertainment is not going to be a circus that leaves when the novelty is gone. It is here to stay and Korea is no way a trivial player in this field.

Since the Avatar blow, the 3D industry that had been making steady growth is now in full blow. It is undeniable that this 3D phenomenon is here to stay. Not only are movies shot in 3D, but 2D movies are being converted into 3D (even past blockbusters can make a 3D comeback), and furthermore 3D panel TVs are selling like hot cakes. Korea has definitely not been shy in this growing 3D market, and I am going to introduce two key players (one S/W and one H/W respectively) in this industry: 3D content conversion company Stereo Pictures Korea and later this week the Samsung Full HD 3D LCD TV.

Stereo Pictures Korea (SPK)

Currently at work on Warner Brothers “Cats& Dogs 2″ scheduled for worldwide release coming July, this 3D content conversion company from Korea stands competitive amongst other companies in Hollywood, such as In-three and Prime Focus.

SPK’s competitive edge is in their “superior quality, fair pricing and efficiency.” With their advanced “Dynamic 3D” software, they range around an average of $5 million for each movie conversion, and with a time efficiency of 7:3 compared to some other converting firms in the US, SPK sells and delivers.

Tsui Hark, a Hong Kong filmmaker, who had been particularly impressed by a 3D conversion portion of the movie “300,” personally made a visit to SPK a month ago, in plans to convert his upcoming movie into 3D. SPK has also talked with Paramount, Fox, MGM and is expecting to obtain at least 10 more orders this year.

SPK had further opened its LA branch in December 2007 for marketing and development, and has former Warner executives James R. Miller and Dan Romanelli as corresponding managing and senior partners.

SPK’s business has positive outlook. With the growing demand for 3D, filmmakers now see the advantages of 3D converting compared to shooting in 3D. Filming in 3D from inception showed limitations when filming extensive landscapes and projecting fully three dimensional pictures when CG and actual images are combined. With SPK’s Dynamic 3D technology, and 3D converting & retouching engineers, the contour, depth and volume are adjusted to bring the directors vision into live. SPK is currently on a hiring spree in plans to hire around 3000 more employees by this September to meet the growing demand of conversion orders.

Keep up with Koreaninsight for the next issue on the Samsung Full HD 3D LCD TV.

Four months ago, on 28 November 2009, iPhone was launched in Korea by KT(Korea Telecom), South Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, through an exclusive contract with Apple. The launch of Apple’s iPhone has brought dramatic changes into mobile, internet service, and other related areas in South Korea. There are many things to talk about, but today I want to introduce a very interesting report I found yesterday, which is titled “iPhone subscribers’ apps user attitude and inclination analysis” from KT Economics and Management research lab(Digieco) run by KT.

Most sought for App in Korea
According to the report, iPhone users in Korea have an average of 86 apps on 6.3 pages of their iPhone. The observed apps with highest utilization and paid purchases were productivity enhancing products and camera devices, whereas the most often used app in Korea was shown to be “Daum Map“. Korea also covers 1% of Appstore Application usage.

[Current App Status in Korea : Preferences according to age group]

Translated by Veyond Partners

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Popular Korean apps mentioned above:

• Daum Map/Naver Map (free): Helps you track your current location, providing you a road/sky view, and directions for public transportation, restaurants, banks etc

• Seoul Bus (free): Provides you local bus information, showing every stop along the bus line, and real time information on where each bus is positioned, for Seoul, Incheon and nearby Gyeonggi-do areas

• Naver Webtoon (free): You can view webtoons(internet cartoons) with live update. You can also download your favorites, and view them offline for up to 48 hours

• Package-delivery (free): You can locate your package and delivery schedule info by simply entering the delivery service company and delivery number

• Naver Wingbus Seoul restaurant (free): You can search for popular restaurants and food by location. Provides price range, opening hours, and phone number

• Navigator (free): Using spatial data, it can capture and track your movement when you are outdoors, and can provide you a map of surrounding info and distance

• iKorway (paid): Provies you detailed info of the Korean subway, including arrival and departure station search, time, station surroundings, exit info, restrooms, door open info(L/R), station office info and telephone number

……… Naver Map                      Seoul Bus             Wingbus Seoul Restaurant

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From the report of app preferences, we could observe the difference in attitudes, interest, and purchases of free/paid apps according to age groups.

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Inclination & attitude across Age groups
10s – As students with limited finance, and a relatively limited social scale, they make most use out of entertainment apps, public transportation info, and camera devices

20s – Actively seeking to expand their social network, SNS apps such as Skype, and Whatsapp are most frequently used

30s – High interest in convenient calling techniques and arranging contact list with apps such as spDial, Kontacts etc. Also shows high usage of search and downloads, with Appstore often located on their quick Dock menu.

40s– They show high preference for productivity enhancing apps such as Awesome note and Korean Calendar, and they often have Mail on their quick Dock menu, making full use of their iphone services

In general, Koreans show high inclination towards the use of maps, public transportation, and communication applications. I believe further developed SNS (Social Networking Services), productivity enhancing services (such as Awesome notes), and camera applications show promising marketability for Korean iphone users. Korea has also surpassed Japan in iPhone user growth by its 500,000 user increase within 4 months, whereas Japan took 7 months to accumulate 500,000 users. Much more interesting news on iPhone usage in Korea will be featured in Korean Insight.