SNS has already been popular in Korea with Cyworld, which has existed in Korea since 1999. Now, globally representative SNS services such Facebook and later Twitter has begun to enter the Korean market. However, Facebook had failed to be widely adopted in Korea, while the more recent emergence of Twitter has been starting to gain ground. I believe this pattern is likely to continue for both Facebook and Twitter, because SNS rely on the spread of active users, and also partly due to the language barrier of “English”. However, in the long term, SNS in Korea should not and cannot remain remote from the English based worldwide SNS, hence it is early to determine the ultimate future of global SNS platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in Korea.

Why not Facebook?
Despite the fact that Facebook has more than 400 million users worldwide, it has faced a tough game in Korea due to the already dominant SNS, Cyworld. SNS popularity relies on the quantity of active users available within the network, and Cyworld has certainly managed to account for most of the Korean users. It has also been made to fit the taste of the Korean majority with decorateable avatars and homely features that are simple and attractive. Moreover, because people have already become accustomed to Cyworld with ready established networks, they find it cumbersome to readopt the facets of Facebook which are quite different and hence ‘complicated’ for Korean users. Hence, switching over Korea’s already massive Cyworld users base to Facebook would be difficult and unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Cyworld (above) vs Facebook (below)

Then, why yes to Twitter?
Twitter on the other hand has been gaining ground from quite early on. There had been no previous Korean SNS that gave such microblogging services that allow quick, short, no-pressure, real time sharing of information before Tweeting emerged in Korea. Furthermore the rising spread of Smartphone usage in Korea has made Tweeting much easier and mobile, hence encouraging instaneous posting of Tweets.
Later Korean versions, such as Naver’s Me2day and Twittpop(an Korean SNS app) has been developed. The Twittpop app even has added features such as posting through smartphone pen recognitions and GPS use. However, Twitter has already gained significant ground with the Korean user base, and though the localized version seem to be viable, it is perhaps more likely that Koreans are going to continue to build on the internationally large user base of Twitter. It could be one of the few global SNS to succeed in Korea in a long time, since blogs first began. Twitter has been already formatted for the Korean language, and especially with notable expansion of Tweets during Korea’s recent election season(an attempt to revive Obama’s Twitter effect), a significant number of tweeters have been accumulated in Korea. Many Koreans also have much interest in following up on international(or Hollywood) celebrities, politicians, and figures, and because the Tweet are much shorter, lighter, and easier to follow, Twitter perhaps reduces the language barrier.

Twitter (above) vs Me2Day (below)

What should the future for SNS in Korea be?
In Korea, local internet services are currently very competitive and dominant; Cyworld over Facebook, Naver over Google. Perhaps because those local services almost perfectly meet up to the preferences and taste of Koreans, and partly due to the differentiated structure of search engine in Korea that is limited to its associated data base, instead of the entire web.
However, as a tech-savvy, developed country, Korea’s SNS culture should not and cannot stay remote and away from the English based worldwide SNS platforms. People will increasingly seek to go beyond Korea, and connect with people on an international level. Even though, the English language barrier has made many Koreans reluctant to use English based SNS until today, there have been increments in people who are willing to take that chance. Moreover, with an almost obsession in learning and improving one’s English in Korea, there still remains to be promising possibility for global SNS such as Facebook in the longer term. Hence though Twitter seem to be more likely of success in the Korean market compared to Facebook, ultimately global SNS should be adopted in the future of Korea.

Once reaching up to 8000 mobile subscribers in one day in Korea, iPhone no doubt still maintains popularity since its late launch here in November 2009. Some of you may not be aware of that there was a round 1 of iPhone versus Androids, perhaps because the earlier attempts to put domestic android phones, such as Motorola ‘Motoroid’ and LGT ‘Android-1’, up against the iPhone in February this year had been somewhat futile.

However, since SKT’s launched its three (more competitive) Android phones in April, there has been a huge come back for Androids, expanding its smartphone market share by six fold up to 35.3% in Korea. In fact, Android phones have actually surpassed the market share of iPhone in Korea which had been reduced from 43.3% in the first quarter to 31.4%. This shift towards the favor of Androids had gradually began with SKT’s launch of Pantech’s ‘Sirius’ mid April, then Samsung’s ‘Galaxy A’, and in May with HTC’s ‘Desire’.

The Android phones still have several matters to settle in order to continue on its successful launch in Korea throughout the latter half of the year, such as the build-in memory for apps, OS upgrades, and payment issues for the Android Market.

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Furthermore, the round 2 of Android vs. iPhone is getting hot with Samsung’s masterpiece ‘Galaxy S’ which held its launching event yesterday, on June 8thin Korea, on the exact same date as the launching of iPhone 4G in the United States.
With the immense upgraded iPhone 4G and Galaxy S launch going eye to eye in Korea, it certainly will not be too easy to determine which one will fully capture the taste of the Korean consumers.

Left: Steve Jobs with iPhone 4G        Right: Samsung’s Galaxy S

Galaxy S has been equipped with a 1 ㎓ processor and the 2.1 version of the Android OS. The data processing speed has been upgraded and it boasts its AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) vivid picture display. It is also the thinnest smartphone in the market today with a thickness of 9.9㎜, and has a replaceable battery. No doubt, Galaxy S contains the technology and specifications that could definitely make it possibly one of the world’s best.

The new iPhone 4G, on the other hand, is about one quarter the thickness and approximately two times the picture quality of the iPhone 3GS. It also fully addressed the consumer complaints for the previous iPhone 3GS, by installing a 500-megapixel camera that can capture HD videos and make video calls. It also has many of the iPad features such as an ‘A4′ processor (CPU), 512MB memory, 16 or 32GB capacity, electronic book (eBook) services, and further added multitasking capabilities. These improvements have certainly captured the attention of consumers, and very likely to further the iPhone’s dominance of the global smartphone market.

Galaxy S will be in full release, soon available for Korean consumer around mid-June, while iPhone 4G is scheduled to release in Korea by July – a pleasant surprise as Korea had been 2 years late in getting the first iPhones into Korea. We will simply have to wait and see who will be the ultimate smartphone standing in Korea.

Out of thousands of game developers in Korea, it is currently difficult to profit in the domestic market due to the massive number of competitors.  Thus many of them are turning overseas. Recently, Joymax’s popular MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) Silkroad Online® has been a hit in Turkey. With over 20 million registered players worldwide, this WOW-like RPG game has now become a national game for the Turks.

SRO (Silkroad Online) is a 3D third person style action MMORPG game, set in the 7th century AD Silk Road between Europe and China. Featuring realistic cities that existed in ancient Silk Road to visit, SRO is highly relatable fantasy game for the Turks. With free-to-play service and non-repetitive yet addictive game play, SRO has attracted PC gamers globally. There are three notable factors behind SRO’s success overseas.

Joymax’s keen timing on releasing SRO to the global market has certainly been essential. Over the past seven years, the Eastern Europe and the Middle East have vastly expanded their internet market, increasing their internet usage up to 1400%. With this epic transformation, the internet based digital entertainment industry has been blooming. To capitalize on this factor, Joymax launched a global version of SRO. This led to a staggering success. Now SRO alone makes up 84% of sales for Joymax, 94% of which comes from the SRO global version.

SRO’s success in Eastern Europe is also largely due to Joymax’s unique marketing strategy. It is true that Joymax was not alone in the competition. Turkey for example, with a population consisting over 70 million people and having 28% of them being under 14, is any game distributor’s goldmine.  While other competitors were distributing games though licensing and creating localized servers, Joymax has distributed SRO through GDS (Global Direct Service). GDS simply is like a portal site such as Yahoo or Google, it lets anyone in the world to access the server in Korea to play the game. This not only increases net profit for Joymax but also reduces the risks in going overseas. The different approach by Joymax is what makes them stand out in global gaming industry.

But why Turkey? How did SRO capture millions of young minds in Eurasia? The answer is in SRO’s game style. Joymax wanted to create a game that is highly relatable both in Europe and Asia. Aside from formulating a realistic back-drop of ancient Silk Road, SRO includes traditional Turkish outfits for the game characters, game monsters based on ancient Egyptian figures and special events based on Islamic religious holidays. With this multicultural faceted game play, SRO creates a familiar yet mystical world for gamers in Europe and Asia. I mean who could resist but to play a fantasy game based on a history they know?

Although Joymax holds total of only 1.22% in online gaming market share of Korea, its global impact is jaw dropping. Today the traditional way of spending leisure time is becoming history in Turkey. With membership increasing by 6% and sales 30% every month, it is safe to say that SRO is one of the number one ways to spend spare time in Turkey for many. With the release of the Turkish version of SRO on November, 17th 2009 and many other upcoming language upgrades, Joymax plans to attract millions of more players globally. Joymax’s SRO is sign of success in the global gaming markets for Korea and there is certainly much more to look forward from Korea’s gaming industry.