iPhone Phollies

This video was made by a Best Buy clerk on his own time and doesn't even mention Best Buy, but they still tried to can him for it. They took it back later, but the employee, Brian Maupin, isn't sure he'll return: "I’m not sure if it would be comfortable returning to Best Buy considering the circumstances," he said.

Apparently, the iPhone 4G is the (not necessarily) latest and greatest of the so-called smartphones. My phone--an LG Cyon model LV 3700--seems to be a stupid one even though it remembers all my phone numbers, takes pictures, can give me complete info on the Seoul subway system and even knows Korean as well as English. Also, it doesn't care which hand I hold it with.

That last seems to be a problem with the iPhone 4, so much so that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had to hold a press conference to pretty much deny design problems with the phone, while giving away a $29 case to purchasers to fix the non-existent problem. Even though it's not a problem, all other smartphones have the same problem, he said:

He showed off demonstrations of the BlackBerry Bold, the HTC Droid Eris, and the Samsung Omnia II that exhibited the same problem that's been reported on the iPhone—when you hold them a certain way, their signal bars begin to drop. "Phones aren't perfect," he said, and the problem reported with the iPhone is a "challenge for the entire industry.

Well, Korean electronics giant Samsung and other smartphone makers beg to differ. Their field tests did not find the same kind of problems the iPhone4 has:

“The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna,” Shin Young-joon, a Samsung spokesperson, told The Korea Herald. [...]
He also questioned the reliability of the reception test made by Apple, saying its results may differ depending on the circumstance.
Samsung, however, fell short of releasing a statement on Apple’s latest claims unlike Nokia, Research In Motion, and Motorola. This is possibly because Apple is one of the biggest customers for Samsung, the world’s No. 1 memory chip maker. The popular iPhone 4 uses Samsung’s DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, and an application processor manufactured by the Korean chip vendor.

Another Korean company, KT (Korea Telecom), has reason to be miffed at Apple, since Korea was not included in the list of 17 countries to be included in the international rollout of the phone at the end of July. KT is the Apple vendor here. According to JoongAng Daily:

While Jobs told reporters that the reason for the hiccup in Korea was “a delay in receiving government approval,” the Korea Communications Commissions said that KT hasn’t yet filed for a certificate guaranteeing that the device fits domestic technological conditions. Such a certificate is a must for all new communications devices coming to Korea.
“We have completed our internal test on the iPhone 4,” a KT official said, but that Apple wanted more time for the launch.
The delay is apparently good news for Samsung, which last month launched the Galaxy S, its latest Android-based smartphone.
Galaxy S has been selling well: 350,000 units in the three weeks since its release. Apple’s iPhone 3GS sold 800,000 units in about seven months after its release in November.

Back to the iPhone press confererence. Jobs made one of the most bizarre jabs at Korea ever--and I'm surprised this hasn't been picked up here, where people will sometimes take offense at even the most innocuous things:

I guess it’s just human nature, when you see someone get successful you just want to tear it down. I see it happening with Google. Google is a great company. Look at everything they’ve created. Would you prefer we’re Korean companies? Do you not like the fact that we’re an American company leading the world right here?

Yes, Steve, I think that's great. But I'm not sure how that has anything to do with the issue at hand. And considering that this phone gets some of its key components from Korea, I'm even less sure.

Korea: Robust, Hi-tech, Export-oriented

If you look at my Blogger Profile to the right on this page, you will see those words, written a year ago as I began this blog and planned my sojourn here. A year later, it's more true than ever, as stories out today in Korea's leading paps, the Korea Times and The Korea Herald, report:

• between them, Samsung Electronics and Hynix (formerly Hyundai Electronics) captured 61% of the worldwide DRAM market, up from 48% a year ago
  
• the world's two biggest LCD makers, Samsung and LG Display, also captured 55.4 percent of the global flat-screen market in the second quarter, up from 44.5 percent a year ago
  
• Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors saw their combined market share in the United States reach 7.54 percent as of June, more than a 3 percentage point gain from 4.41 percent in December
  
• in the European market, their market share hit 3.8 percent in the first half of 2009, a 0.7 percentage point increase from 3.1 percent recorded during the same period last year. Data showed a rebound from 2007, when their market share in the European market contracted to 3.2 percent from 3.6 percent in 2006
  
• on the back of brisk sales of high-end phones, Korean phone makers LG and Samsung also controlled 30.6 percent of the world market ― the first time domestic brands have accounted for more than 30 percent. The increase is a 6 percentage point rise from 24.7 percent from a year ago, and came as Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and Motorola lost market share
  
• I got a raise of 100,000 W per month for next year
  

These companies are chaebol, family-controlled multinational corporations that rose during the 1960s as part of strongman-president Park Chung-hee's vision for bringing Korea's economy into the industrial era. Certain companies received preferential treatment from government and banks until what they call here "The IMF", AKA the Asian financial crisis of 1997. The weaknesses of the system were thrown into sharp focus, and theoretically the chaebol have emerged leaner and meaner as a result.

Trivia: LG does not stand for Life is Good, but for Lucky GoldStar, a combination of the original company name, Lak Hui, and GoldStar, its electronics subsidiary formed in the late 50s, which produced Korea's first radio.

Korean Baseball, Week 3

Three weekends, three baseball games. I know I said I wouldn't go this weekend, but you gotta understand--it's really inexpensive, convenient, and fun. With the usual suspects, I attended the Lotte Giants (from Busan) hosted by the Seoul Heroes, in Mokdong. Just a hop, skip and a jump from Deungchon-dong.

A quick cab ride to Dangsan Station (W4000), one stop to Yeongdeungpo-gu Office, transfer to the blue line for two stops to Omokgyo (W900), then a short walk. Well, not all that short, about fifteen minutes. General admission ticket, W9000. 16 oz beer, W3000. Total cost, up to first beer: W16,900 (USD 12.31). Even cheaper if I take the bus instead of a cab.

Compare that to a Braves game--and believe me, I'm not knocking the Bravos, or the Ted, here: 40 mi. drive by car @$0.35/mi. (USD 14.00). Parking, USD 5.00. Aggravation, priceless. Fifteen minute walk, if you find a really close lot. Cheap seats, USD 8.00. 16 ouncer, USD 6.00. Total cost: USD 33.00. And the price differential escalates with each additional beer, should I choose to have more than one, that is...

Now, you can argue that the quality of play is much better in the States, and of course it is. But whenever you have two evenly-matched teams, there will be some excitement. The Heroes are leading the league at the moment, and did not disappoint, as their bats awoke in the bottom of the third and drilled in four runs, sparked by a two-RBI stand-up triple down the first base line. Or so I'm told, as I chose the ten minutes of these events to take a smoke break.

Mokdong stadium holds 15,000 fans, home of the Seoul Heroes. They were the Woori Heroes last year (and the Hyundai Unicorns the year before last), but the company (the tobacco Woori, not the financial Woori) dropped its sponsorship for this season. Korean baseball teams are unabashedly controlled by the 'chaebol' that run things here--LG Twins, SK Wyverns, KIA Tigers, etc.

Salaries are pretty stable across the board, but are very low, in relative terms. This Korea Times article brags that over 100 Korean players will earn "nine digits" this season--the high figure quoted in the article is about USD 175,000; the average player makes around W85 million (USD 62,000). In comparison, the average player in the Japanese league earns 17 times more. This Chosun Ilbo story complains that at USD 375,000, the foreign player cap is set too low--each team is allowed two foreigners in the line-up.

I am not arguing that pro athletes should make more money--far from it. In fact, the absurd money "earned" by American athletes is a clear symptom of our American decline. And I see no reason that the American taxpayer should subsidize it--we do, you know. Our municipalities build stadia that will never pay for themselves and give hundreds of millions in tax breaks to the billionaire owners of our teams, which they can use to pay the athletes obscene money--the American sports market is totally socialist. Leave Obama alone and go after the Falcons/Yankees/Lakers!

Indeed, it looks to me like the Korean remuneration system has it about right--the baseball league has a parity that the Americans can only dream of: each of the eight teams has won the championship at least once (and all but the Hanhwa Eagles twice or more) in the league's quarter-century of existence. Eleven of the fifteen K-League soccer teams have won the title since its 1983 inception.

The downside of this is that the best Korean talent makes its way overseas. Man U is so popular here largely because 박지성 Park Ji-sung plays right wing at Old Trafford. Last week, the faculty lunchroom had a Japanese baseball game playing--I wondered why, until I learned there was a Korean pitcher in the game!


The Heroes are a little bit disorganized, and perhaps underfunded, as the fans had virtually no noisemakers at the start of the game. By the middle of the second inning, however, someone had noticed this and started giving away inflatable noisemakers. You can see the pair I snagged in the photo above. You can also see Andy and Nick. You can further see the tall building in the background, Hyperion Tower A, which is the second tallest building in Korea. 63 Building is NOT the tallest building in Korea, it is only the third tallest, despite what you will hear from almost everybody.

Branded!

This article in today's NYT made me wonder about which brands in Korea I recognised, never mind store brands, aka private labels. More on that in a moment, but first a quiz on USA store brands. I'll list the private label or store brand, you determine which store it goes with. Ready? Go!

A) Cost-cutters
B) Clover Valley
C) Best Yet
D) Sam's Choice
E) Berkley & Jensen
F) Market Pantry
G) American Fare
H) Archer Farms
I) Croft & Barrow
J) Great Value
K) America's Choice

Here is the spoiler space, in which I will discourse briefly on what I know of Korean brands before providing the answers to our quiz. The best known Korean brands in the world are, of course, Samsung, Hyundai and LG. Within Korea, these are naturally major movers and shakers, being among the chaebol who received favorable government treatment in the 70s and 80s to build the nation's economic might.

In the supermarkets, Dongwon (the world's largest tuna concern, which I wrote about here), is a major player, as is Lotte, a supermarket behemoth, entertainment business and apartment complex concern which builds "Lotte Castle" properties. Ottogi is a popular maker of sauces, including the ketchup and mayonnaise in my refrigerator. Pulmuone is the major producer of kimchi, and sponsor of the Kimchi Field Museum.

I'm sure that E-Mart and HomePlus have store brands, but I'm too new to recognize them; certainly, I have noticed the similar packaging of E-Mart fresh food products like tomatoes, persimmons or crab meat, which usually include a small English translation on the label. Thankfully.

It reminds me of the Piggly Wiggly Lauren and I used to shop at in the early eighties which offered black-and-white, generic wrapping for "paper towels", "macaroni dinner mix" and "tomato paste". I even remember a generic book display with titles like "Western", "Romance" and "Historical".

Answers:
A) Cost-cutters - Kroger
B) Clover Valley - Dollar General
C) Best Yet - Southern Family/Barney's
D) Sam's Choice - Wal-Mart
E) Berkley & Jensen - BJ's Discount
F) Market Pantry - Target
G) American Fare - K-Mart
H) Archer Farms - Target
I) Croft & Barrow - Kohl's
J) Great Value - Wal-Mart
K) America's Choice - A & P

Bonus Link:
Do visit the 99 Cent Store Chef at his blog: http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/

Bonus Video:
This was one of my favorite shows as a kid (though, of course, I never even knew it was in color). Starred Chuck Connors, who I idolized as 'The Rifleman', also. Branded, scorned as the one who ran ...

Survey Says ...

When I first started thinking about coming to Korea, back in May of this year, the main things I associated with the country, the War and M*A*S*H aside, were LG (makers of my cell phone), Samsung and Hyundai.

Thanks to my old old college roomie, who was half-Korean, next came kimchi. She never once made Korean barbecue or bulgogi, that I can remember, but there was plenty of rice and kimchi. Anyway, below that on my list, and a long way down, would come the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

It turns out I would not be alone in these associations. The daily Dong-A Ilbo reports that it:

commissioned Google to conduct surveys on keywords that best represent 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and China ...
The names most associated with Korea were Samsung; LG; Hyundai; kimchi; StarCraft; porcelain; textiles; Boa (singer); taekwondo; and personal computer games.
Korea was the only country among major economies such as the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Germany to have the names of companies among the top three keywords.

I'm not sure what it says about me, though, this correspondence: am I just as ignorant and superficial as the average web user, or am I the distillation of the accumulated knowledge of billions of web pages? Perhaps the answer is best left as an exercise for the reader. The kind, generous, perspicacious reader.