South Korea Smartphone users reach 10 million

South Korea now has 10 million registered Smartphone users, according to a Korean Communications Commission report. In late 2009, there were only 800,000 registered users. However, in 15 months, the number has skyrocketed to 10 million users.

The introduction of the iPhone in November 2011 in Korea has triggered the growth of Smartphone distribution. The Korean Communications Commission estimates the number of Smartphone users to reach 20 million by the end of 2011.

There was also a significant increase in the use of mobile phones to access the internet. The traffic data show that usage has increased to 5463TB in Jan 2011, which is 11 times higher than in Jan 2010's 449TB.

According to the research done by the telecommunications industry in Korea, 65 percent of Smartphone users are in their 20s and 30s; 60 percent of them have Google's android phones and 27 percent have Apple's iPhone.