How Apple, Samsung and LG Met the Smartphone Shift

Apple introduced the iPhone in January 2007 and began selling it in the United States that June. Smartphones already existed, but a large touch screen and a web browser changed what many people expected from one. The iPod touch, introduced that September, offered part of the same experience without making calls.

Three Companies at the Start of a Shift

Kim Dae-won wrote in 2011, when the long-term results of the transition were still unknown. He asks how each company positioned its products. The iPhone gave Apple a clear public idea of what a phone could be. Samsung was already experimenting with smartphones such as the Omnia before Galaxy became its main answer.

The book contrasts that work with LG’s success in feature phones such as Chocolate. Kim argues that success under the earlier rules made the next market harder to read. LG did bring out Android devices and kept experimenting. In 2021 it announced it would close its mobile phone business worldwide. There was a decade between that announcement and the book.

Remembering the Moment Before the iPhone Arrived in Korea

I remember looking at the iPod touch as a small computer that could connect to Wi-Fi. The iPhone reached Korea later, after the first US launch. From where I stood, the ability to browse from a pocket was more striking than the difference between two brands. The book’s contrast with early Korean handsets makes that shift easier to feel.

What a Market Position Can Tell You

The title argues that there is no second place. A runner-up can be remembered. What matters in these cases is what each company did while the categories were changing. I found the book most useful as a record of how the future looked in 2011, when the roles Apple, Samsung and LG would end up playing were still open.

Sources: Apple’s iPhone announcement and LG’s exit announcement · Apple · LG