Earlier this year we reported that smartphone penetration had reached 60%, and the new figure (only 2 months later) shows that a massive 67% of South Korean mobile subscribers use smartphones.

Adjapan and 8crops are subsidiaries of Fancommunications, one of the largest ASPs (affiliate service providers) in Japan. They offer a range of interesting marketing solutions for both PCs and smartphones. They are now actively expanding into new markets, having seen sustained domestic growth.

Korean mobile game developer Gamevil has just released a new mobile action game ‘Sir Death’ into the Korean domestic open markets. Having first been released in the Apple App Store back in October 2012, ‘Sir Death’ is now making forays into the general Korean smartphone gaming market.

At the end of last week South Korea’s communications watchdog turned down bids by two Korean firms to set up the country’s fourth mobile operator.

Japan and Korea present amazing opportunities for app developers, but fierce competition and unique characteristics means local knowledge and a finely tuned entry strategy is a must. This article aims to uncover some of the truths to help you succeed.

Several big names have exited Korea in the last few years (CarreFour, Walmart, Motorola, RIM, HTC, Goldman Sachs, to mention a few), but can Korean consumers be blamed for the failure of foreign companies to attract and retain market share, as some have suggested?