Case Study
Reports from SERI Quarterly, SERI's in-depth quarterly journal on the Korean and Northeast Asian economies
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October 2013 The Rise of Korean Budget Airlines
The arrival of budget airlines in Korea has brought new competition to Korea¡¯s long standing airline duopoly, to strong response from consumers. These firms have cut costs, streamlined organizations, and deployed social marketing techniques to attain a high share of domestic and short distance routes.

The introduction of smart TVs, like the introduction of smart phones, has mandated a change in user input methods. Samjin, a Korean partner of Samsung, has brought new innovation to the classic TV remote, whose design has remained the same for decades. Samjin¡¯s remote introduces touch gestures that are changing the face of a familiar device.

Samsung Electronics¡¯ Galaxy Note was the world¡¯s first commercially successful ¡°phablet,¡± a phone whose screen size is between that of a phone and a full sized tablet. With its 5.3¡± screen, the Galaxy Note debuted to skeptical criticism about its size. The market soon proved doubters wrong, and the Galaxy Note became a global best seller.

KakaoTalk, an instant messenger app for smartphones, emerged from nowhere to become a near ubiquitous part of Koreans¡¯ daily lives. Its fast rise to dominance came from Kakao¡¯s unique development approach, and a philosophy of constant improvement. Innovations like the provision of a gaming infrastructure helped Kakao to become profitable in record time.