Apple cuts iPod prices in Korea

Or, as a Korean would say, "As-sa!"...

I was just about to buy a Mini anyway here before I left the country to go on a long vacation, despite the formerly inflated prices for Apple gear here. Hopefully the price drop will come into effect in time (I leave in 2 weeks). The Korean Apple Store is down - I can't really read the message but presumably they're updating it with new prices/marketing messages.

I'm glad Apple is finally doing something about their horrible marketing in Korea. Koreans would go ape s**t over their products if they knew how good they were. I teach English to elementary and middle-schoolers here and they're all extremely fashionable. Most middle-schoolers (and many elementary students) have cellphones AND iRiver MP3 players. The couple of times I've mentioned iPod I get a blank stare.

Of course, nobody has a Mac in Korea either - and Korean websites rarely work at all on a Mac browser. At least the fonts show up right...

There is a tiny Apple store at the edge of downtown with one person working there, that takes too long to get new products and charges too much for them when they do. I remember waiting interminably for Panther - they always told me, "next week, next week..." I was amazed when they got it. The box had no Korean on it save for a paper insert inside the shrinkwrap - it was directly imported from the U.S.

Apple Korea is right to have a sense of urgency over the MP3 market - whoever has been running the show for the last few years has been dead asleep at the wheel.

The Apple Store Korea is up again with no sign of the announced price drop.

That'll be great for the suckers who order one at the current price after the company publicly announced a public price drop. Wait - nobody's going to buy one, because the Apple Store Korea is just for show anyway.

Seriously, I wonder how many iPods they've sold at that store. Two? Three tops?

I have a feeling I'm talking to myself here...

You're not talking to yourself at all...

Why do you think Koreans aren't taking to Apple products? Is it solely because of Apple's marketing in Korea?

Apple is huge in Japan after all...

Apple doesn't seem to have any marketing presence here, and yes, I think that's the main reason for Koreans' indifference towards the brand.

Also, while Korea is a style-conscious country, it is less so than Japan, I believe. Koreans haven't been as rich, or for as long, as the Japanese and don't have quite the rich palette of consumer tastes. Most Koreans are satisfied with whatever Samsung or LG serves them up, and if it's a PC, so be it.

For the record, my fridge, A/C, stove, washer, microwave and LCD panel are Samsung, and my TV, humidifier, and, yes, kitchen table/chairs are LG.

Korea is also more rough around the edges than Japan, and out-of-order or unseemly equipment and facilities are tolerated. I suppose that constant virii and spyware go in that category. ;-

Before I ramble on with further speculation, though, I think it's only understandable that Koreans don't buy Macs when, in my city of 2 million people, there is one tiny Apple reseller with a staff of one that, as of today, has a fading banner of the old "desk lamp" iMac G4 atop its dingy facade. Their website is an embarassing mix of new and outdated product references - definitely nothing hip about it: http://www.jongromac.co.kr/

I stopped by there today with a friend, to check if they a) had the iPod Mini and b) had caught wind of the price drop. They were closed (probably one of the very few stores not open on a Sunday), but did have a poster in their window announcing the price drop on the Mini from 354,000 won to 310,000 won.

That's good enough for me. I'm going to cross my fingers that I can pick one up tomorrow, before the week-long Lunar New Year holiday...