Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone Hits South Korea

Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone will hit the South Korean market on Saturday, a market which is dominated by competitive domestic manufacturers Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. (NYSE: LPL). They together hold over 80 per cent of the total domestic market of about 47 million handsets.

Though touted as the world’s most sophisticated cell phone market, South Koreans pay the highest prices in the world for cell phones and among the highest for wireless service. The average selling price for Samsung and LG phones is nearly twice as much in South Korea as it is outside the country. The introduction of Apple iphones is going to create a price war that will be good for the domestic consumer in the long run.