Korea Phone Trends
The smartphone usage rate among Koreans has reached 97 percent according to a recent survey.
Korea Gallup announced on July 18 that it asked 1,001 people aged 18 or older nationwide whether they used a smartphone from July 11-13. Ninety-seven percent said they did.
According to the poll, 69 percent of the 975 smartphone users who said that they used smartphones said that they used Samsung smartphones, 23 percent Apple, 6 percent LG, and 0.4 percent other brands. Two percent did not know the brand of their current smartphone or did not answer the question. Samsung and Apple each increased by 3 percentage points from last year, while LG decreased by 4 percentage points.
By age, Apple dominated among those in their 20s, Apple and Samsung were neck and neck among those in their 30s, and Samsung dominated among those over 40, in the mid-80-percent range. Apple was more popular among younger people (65 percent in their 20s, 1 percent in their 70s and older), while LG is more popular among older people (less than 10 percent in their 60s and under and 21 percent in their 70s and older).
Both Samsung and Apple reached new highs this year since Gallup Korea began to survey people about their smartphones. Samsung grew from 59 percent in 2012, 11 years ago, to 69 percent in 2023, and Apple from 13 percent to 23 percent over the same period. This change suggests that Samsung led the charge in popularizing foldable phones with its recent Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold and absorbed former LG smartphone users.
Among the 975 smartphone users in the survey, 65 percent chose Samsung as their next brand, while 22 percent chose Apple. Two percent chose others and 11 percent were undecided yet.
Observing future brand choices by age, Samsung was dominant among those over 40 (34 percent in their 20s, 53 percent in their 30s, and 80 percent in their 50s and 60s), while Apple is dominant among the younger age groups (59 percent in their 20s, 41 percent in their 30s, 20 percent in their 40s and 2 percent in their 70s or older).
Nine in ten current Samsung and Apple smartphone users said they will go for the same brand next time.