In March 2023 Patently Apple posted a report titled "A Massive Enthusiastic Crowd Jammed the new Apple Gangnam Store in the Heart of Samsung's Home Turf." In January 2024 we reported that Apple was the only real competitor to Samsung in Korea, with 15% Market Share. in July 2023, The Korea Herald posted a report titled "Young Koreans favor iPhones over Samsung Galaxy." The report covered a survey conducted by Gallup Korea. At present 69% of Korean adults own a Galaxy phone, with Apple's iPhone in second place with 23%. Where a huge shift is now occurring is with younger millennials and Gen Z as noted in the survey chart below. More specifically, among the younger generation, aged 18 to 29, iPhone’s share rises to 65 percent, double the Samsung's 32 percent, the survey found. And now, Apple is set to open their new Apple Hongdae Store in Korea on January 20.

Today, The Elec reports that "Apple Korea released its 25th audit report (October 2022 - September 2023). Sales growth continued. Operating profit soared.

Apple Korea announced on the 12th that its sales and operating profit for the 25th quarter were KRW 7,524.033 billion and KRW 559.979 billion respectively. Compared to the previous year, sales increased by 2.6% and operating profit increased by 550.1%."

The incentive for Apple to continue opening new stores in S. Korea is evident: it's wildly profitable.  

That has to sting Samsung in light of The Korea Times reporting on January 9^th that Samsung Electronics' 2023 operating profit has fallen to a 15-year low. Ouch!