South Korea

Take a peek at South Korea’s newest Apple Store

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Apple Hongdae store in Seoul, South Korea
Apple Hongdae opens on Saturday in Seoul.
Photo: Apple

Apple previewed Apple Hongdae Thursday, its seventh Apple Store in South Korea and 100th in the Asia-Pacific region, opening Saturday in a busy university neighborhood in Seoul with a daily Today at Apple Pop-Up Studio featuring hip-hop artist Beenzino.

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring our customers in Korea something special at the start of the year with the opening of the all-new Apple Hongdae,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail.

Pics and K-pop: Cupertino shows off big new Apple Store opening in Seoul

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Apple Myeongdong, Apple’s newest location in South Korea, opens Saturday, April 9.
Apple Myeongdong, Apple’s newest and largest store in South Korea, opens on Saturday in Seoul.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s newest retail location, Apple Myeongdong, opens on Saturday in South Korea’s capital, Seoul. Ahead of the opening of its biggest store in the country, Apple showed off a preview with photos and descriptions of the store’s Today at Apple programs celebrating Korean culture, including a new K-pop session.

Remarkably, the new, two-level Apple Store will employ a whopping 250 people who, collectively, speak 11 languages. So, wherever you’re coming from, you’re likely to be understood as you drop a bundle on new Apple gear!

South Korea is first to say App Store must allow third-party payments

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App-Store-Today
It's a major win for developers and users, and other countries are expected to follow suit.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

South Korea has become the first country to tell Apple that it must open up the App Store to third-party payment platforms. The same law also applies to Google, and other countries likely will implement similar rules.

The amendment to South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act prevents large app market operators from forcing their own payment systems on users and developers. It also bans unreasonable delays in app approvals.

South Korea could get 400 mini Apple Stores inside LG retail outlets

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LG Electronics might start selling iPhones in its stores.
LG got out of the phone business earlier this year. Now it could start selling iPhones.
Photo: LG Electronics

LG Electronics threw in the towel on manufacturing smartphones earlier this year. Now, according to a new report, it’s considering stocking Apple products in its 400 LG Best Shops stores in South Korea.

The companies supposedly are negotiating for an Apple store-within-a-store setup that will sell iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. This sounds similar to when Apple set up mini-stores inside CompUSA outlets around the United States in the late 1990s. As with the CompUSA mini-stores, the new LG outlets might be staffed by Apple employees.

Apple settles antitrust dispute in South Korea with ‘voluntary correction scheme’

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Apple South Korea Store
Dispute has been running in South Korea since 2016.
Photo: Apple

Apple has settled a long-running antitrust dispute in South Korea. The country’s Fair Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it has accepted Apple’s offer to spend $89.83 million in the country as part of a voluntary correction scheme.

“This is the first time that a correction scheme [to make up for unfair market practices] actually provides direct benefits to consumers such as repair and warranty cost discounts,” said FTC Chairwoman Joh Sung-wook in a press briefing. “[The FTC] shall thoroughly keep watch on whether Apple carries out the promised actions to contribute to the domestic ICT ecosystem.”

Apple gears up to open its second store in Seoul

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Apple South Korea Store
Apple is expanding its footprint in South Korea.
Photo: Apple

Apple is making inroads in taking over Samsung’s home turf. Well, sort of.

Cupertino is getting ready to open its second brick-and-mortar Apple store in South Korea, home to Samsung. The store will be located in the main finance district of Seoul, Korea’s capital city. Apple Yeouido is located in the upscale IFC Mall Seoul. No exact opening date has yet been announced.

$84 million payout could settle Apple antitrust investigation in South Korea

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South Korea1
An interior photo of Apple's spectacular South Korea store.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s South Korea business has said that it will make a 100 billion won ($84 million) payout to support small businesses and help consumers. This is to address antitrust concerns raised in the country.

Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has been investigating Apple Korea for reportedly forcing mobile carriers to pay for advertising and warranty repairs. The payout — which is phrased like a pledge, but also sounds like a fine — will act as a make-good on Apple’s “unfair” terms.

Apple’s only retail store in South Korea will reopen April 18

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South Korea2
Apple's store in Seoul currently doesn't look quite this busy.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reopening its retail store in South Korea, making it the first Apple Store outside Greater China to reopen following the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The store, Apple’s first and only in South Korea, opened in 2018. It is located in the upmarket Gangnam district, in the city of Seoul. Along with every Apple Store outside China, it closed on March 13 as part of Apple’s COVID-19 response. It will reopen its doors on April 18, a little over a month after closing.

Apple closes all 17 stores in Italy [Updated]

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milan
Apple is closed for business in Italy.
Photo: Apple

Apple is set to shutter all of its stores in Italy beginning Thursday until further notice as the country goes into total lockdown due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

All 17 stores in Italy have updated their webpages showing that doors will close early Wednesday and the company isn’t saying when they will be reopened.

Apple reopens all but 4 retail stores in China as coronavirus infections fall

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chengdu
This store in Chengdu returns to normal hours on March 7.
Photo: Apple

Apple retail stores in China are slowly getting back to business as 38 of the company’s 42 retail stores are now open in an attempt to normalize business despite coronavirus concerns.

A review of the company’s retail web pages by Cult of Mac reveals Apple will expand business hours at 19 locations over the next couple of days and at least 6 stores will return to normal hours of operation.

Apple bans most employees from traveling to Italy and South Korea

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rome
Seeing the Coliseum is a no-go for Apple employees.
Photo: Sean MacEntee/Flickr

Apple has added more travel restrictions for employees this week due to concerns of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Italy and South Korea have been added to Apple’s list of banned destinations, according to a report from Bloomberg. The company instituted a similar restriction on travel to China earlier this month to protect employees’ health.

Apple supports more than 325,000 jobs in South Korea

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The Apple Store in Garosugil, Seoul.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s impact on South Korea is much larger than most fans will have anticipated.

Cupertino directly employs 500 workers of its own, and has created hundreds of thousands of jobs on Samsung’s home turf. Local App Store developers have earned a whopping 4.7 trillion won.

WWII-era dispute could ensnarl release of 2019 iPhones

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iPhone 11 rumor from Olixar
Apple could feel the fallout from a dispute between Japan and South Korea.
Photo: Olixar

Another dispute between countries looms over Apple, but this one dates back to World War II and could cause the tech giant heartburn as it readies the lineup of 2019 iPhones.

Japan will tighten export restrictions on South Korea for materials used to make smartphone chips and displays beginning Thursday. Japan imposed the rule after a court in South Korea ordered Japan’s Nippon Steel to compensate South Koreans for wartime forced labor.

Qualcomm fined for offering illegal kickbacks to phone-makers

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Qualcomm patents
Qualcomm lost its battle with South Korea's FTC.
Photo: Qualcomm

Qualcomm has suffered a blow by losing a lawsuit to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission. Korea’s FTC alleged unfair business practices that allowed Qualcomm to hold onto its monopoly position as a mobile chip maker.

The case covers the 2000 to 2009 period, but Qualcomm has spent the past decade fighting it. Qualcomm must pay a total of $242 million in damages, although part of this will be reconsidered at a lower court.

Apple hits back at complaints it is abusing its power in Korea

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South Korea3
A view from inside Apple's first South Korea retail store.
Photo: Apple

Apple has hit back at claims that it is abusing its power in South Korea by forcing mobile carriers to pay the cost of advertising its devices.

The company said that its actions were fully justified, and that selling the iPhone in South Korea wasn’t just advantaging Apple, but also to local mobile carriers.

Apple rewards Korean cops who caught counterfeit accessories

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Lightning cables that plug into USB-C ports charge your iPhone more quickly.
Haul included counterfeit cables and earphones.
Photo: Apple

Apple is planning to present police officers in South Korea with a plaque to celebrate their work cracking down on almost $1 million worth of fake accessories.

The fake products were supposedly shipped in from China under the guise of being official Apple products. Their distributors are under investigation for potential fraud and trademark violation.

Apple makes retailers cough up for iPhone display models

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iPhone sales
Apple makes retailers jump through hoops to sell iPhones.
Photo: Apple

A group of Korean smartphone retailers are upset at Apple for forcing them to purchase in-store tester iPhones. This differs from the usual practice of manufacturers, who will provide free display smartphones and pick them up later.

Apple, it seems, thinks different.

Fortnite smashes its concurrent players record

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Fortnite
Fortnite isn't going anywhere soon.
Photo: Epic Games

If you thought Fortnite already reached its peak, think again.

Epic Games confirms that its hit Battle Royale game now boasts a staggering 8.3 million concurrent players worldwide. The number more than doubled since February, thanks in part to the game’s recent launch in South Korea.

iPhone X and iPad Pro imports risk being banned in South Korea

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Ex-student sentenced to 3 years in prison for massive iPhone scam
Apple is accused of violating a patent belonging to one of South Korea's top research institutes.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A number of Apple devices, including the iPhone X and iPad Pro, run the risk of being banned from South Korea, the home of Apple’s long-time frenemy Samsung.

The Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy is currently investigating allegations that Apple has infringed on a patent belonging to KAIST, a public research university based in South Korea. The investigation period has already been extended twice, and BusinessKorea suggests that the regulatory commission is likely to make its “final determination” in favor of KAIST.

Here’s how much each country makes off the iPhone 7

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iPhone-7
The major components for the iPhone 7 come from a variety of counties. Most at of the profit still goes to the U.S.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone is made in China, so most of the profit stays over there, right? Actually, everything in that sentence is wrong.

A new study finds that China makes less than $9 from each iPhone 7. Some of the rest goes to other Asian countries, but the lion’s share is earned by Apple and other U.S. companies.

Apple accused of abusing relationship with carriers in South Korea

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Ex-student sentenced to 3 years in prison for massive iPhone scam
Apple is in trouble with South Korean regulators.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple faces the prospect of sanctions in Samsung’s stomping ground of South Korea. The country’s antitrust watchdog is reportedly none too happy about Apple passing along advertising and repair costs to local telecom operators.

It’s the latest criticism of Apple in a country whose antitrust watchdog has sometimes been accused of taking steps to hurt foreign companies doing business.

Galaxy S9 pre-orders may have disappointed on Samsung’s home turf

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Galaxy S9
Samsung Galaxy S9 may struggle against last year's model.
Photo: Samsung

Initial pre-orders of the Samsung Galaxy S9 are proving to be disappointing in Samsung’s home turf of South Korea, a new report claims.

The new handset was only made available for pre-order on Wednesday, but — at least in the first few hours — initial demand seems not to be matching that of last year’s handset. Samsung itself has not yet revealed any figures.

Apple’s South Korean retail store puts it on Samsung’s doorstep

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South Korea2
The design of Apple's new store blurs the line between the inside and outside world.
Photo: Apple

Ahead of Apple’s first ever Apple Store opening South Korea, the company has shared pictures of its spectacular new Seoul store online.

Located on the south of the Han River, in the heart of the upmarket Gangnam district, the store boasts a 25-foot glass facade, stunning 6K video wall, and a tree-lined interior that is designed to blur the line between street and store. It opens this Saturday.