SK Telecom Co.,South Korea’s top mobile operator reported a two-fold growth in its Q4 profit in 2012. They claimed that this was due to a decrease in marketing costs – meaning what? The results come as the country’s three mobile operators ― SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. ― have been slowing down their marketing drive recently amid the communications watchdog’s move to cool market competition. In December last year, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) fined the three firms a combined 11.9 billion won and imposed business suspensions for giving out excessive subsidies to lure LTE subscribers.

Last week, Samsung made its biggest run yet at the iPhone’s loyalists by unveiling the new Galaxy S4 – this was done at Times Square, a few blocks away from Apple’s flagship store in New York. The event had big implications because it was at Apple’s home ground. What are some of the implications for Samsung’s launch?

For the first time this year, cheaper and smaller devices gained favor with the consumers. Google surpassed Apple in tablets — Google’s software will power more tablets than Apple’s, or so Bloomberg reported. It is expected that Google’s shares will rise to 49% in 2013, while Apple’s share will dip to 46% – last year they had 51%, and Google had 46%. Tablets from Google, and products from Samsung and Amazon are gaining favor due to their prices; the prices start at around $200, which is less than half the cost of the newest iPad model. iPad Mini was released to defend their market dominance amid mounting competition.

Samsung Galaxies – the specs, the evolution. Samsung’s Galaxy was first launched in 2010, and 20 million were sold. Samsung Galaxy S2 sold 28 million and was launched a year after that. Samsung Galaxy S3 was launched in 2012 and sold 50 million. Galaxy S4 was launched in 2013 and is available in 155 countries.

“There is energy in the Philippine startup ecosystem and it’s being powered by WebGeek.” This was John Arce’s cry, so we decided to take a look at the scene, with his guidance to determine what is happening in one of the hottest startup hubs in Asia.

It seems that iPad Mini will find itself with yet another competitor in the near future – Galaxy Note 8. The tension between Apple and Samsung is heating up again, with Apple’s iPhone 6 (rumored) and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 both featuring wireless charging.

A potential patent dispute could arise between LG and Samsung, who recently launched the new Galaxy S4. It was revealed that some technologies in the new handset are similar to patents belonging to LG.

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.

Galaxy S4 will be launched and have its first public appearance in New York City on March 14. What are some of its specs and what would it mean for fans of Samsung?

The Chinese government will strengthen its position in international trade and domestic performance by nurturing major electronics firms (and it this may threaten South Korean electronics companies). The Chinese government will support major electronics firms such as Huawei, Lenovo, Haier and ZTE until 2015. These companies are also leading the reconstructing and are expanding quickly in terms of both company size and net worth.

SparkLabs, a startup accelerator in Korea, hosted its first Demo Day today in Seoul, Korea. SparkLabs also announced its expansion into healthcare for its upcoming second class. Sparklabs is founded by Bernard Moon, Hanjoo Lee and Jimmy Kim.

beLAUNCH and GMIC have formed a strategic alliance to leverage the most from our flagship Asian startup events. beSUCCESS and The GWC will also be engaged in a long term alliance, bringing two of Asia’s heavyweight startup facilitators together, towards the achievement of our joint vision.

A decision has been made by a presidential committee to cancel regulatory measures on Web board games, citing a lack of legal grounding for the measures. Gaming shares have surged as a result.

The likes of KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus are the indicator of what was going to come from other operators of the world. Korean mobile operators have become the measurement for deciphering global trends. Needless to say, the profile of Korean carriers has increased significantly since 2011 when LTE networks were set up.

Movida CEO, Taizo Son, is dedicated to creating a North East Asian equivalent to Silicon Valley, by investing in up to 1,000 startups from the region.

The Optimus LTE III apparently differs from the Optimus LTE II as it made significant improvements from the battery of Optimus LTE II (2,150 mAh) to 2,420 mAh battery. As seen in the picture, it will have flip covers like Galaxy Note series. Also, not only you will be able to expect 4G speeds and it will also be an economically competitive option for people who need a 4G smartphone at inexpensive costs.

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.

App marketing platform, AppDisco will be showcasing at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain from the 25th to 28th of February. AppDisco is the only Korean mobile advertising platform participating in MWC.

Markets, Commentators, Business Insiders and media have all predicted that 2013 will be the year of the smartphone. We took a look at Korea-centric news and developments in the space over the last few days, and have compiled a list of top smartphone news.

Korean banks, like the new government are appearing to support economic growth by releasing funds designed to harness the economic value in intellectual property created by innovation in Korea’s SME sector. Of course this is great news for startups.