SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) announced today that it will provide T Store’s content and applications to be sold via a shop-in-shop within Mobile Market, which is the application store of China Mobile Communication Group Guangdong Co. Ltd.(China Mobile), the world’s largest mobile carrier.

The company also unveiled plans to enter the Japanese market with T Store and to open Global Distribution Center (GDC) to actively help developers enter overseas markets. GDC will provide assistance in localizing and optimizing T Store’s high-quality mobile applications and content as well as handling registration and settlement for developers, thereby accelerating the pace of globalization of the T Store platform.

■ Aggressively entering the massive Greater China market, creating valuable opportunities for Korean developers 

SK Telecom has successfully entered the Greater China mobile content market by partnering with Lenovo, China’s leading PC and handset manufacturer, and Tencent QQ, largest portal in revenues with 500 million users, in November 2010, and East Power, Taiwanese leading mobile device supplier, in February. Now, with the launch of a shop-in-shop in China Mobile’s Mobile Market, SK Telecom will be able to provide well-made Korean content and applications to 600 million customers of China Mobile.

SK Telecom and China Mobile recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate in promoting mobile content exchanges and building an ecosystem. The signing ceremony was attended by senior executives of both companies including Lee Joo-Sik, SK Telecom’s Executive Vice President and Head of New Business Division, and Qiu Wen Hui, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile Guangdong. Under the MOU, SK Telecom will provide its high quality T Store content and applications to China Mobile customers from July 2011.

With smartphone sales expected to reach 100 million units in China this year, partnership with China Mobile that dominates 70% of the Chinese mobile telecommunications market is expected to create valuable opportunities for application developers in Korea.

SK Telecom also said that it will promote further discussions with China Mobile to enable the distribution of massive amount of applications by operating a separate server for T Store and to provide mobile advertising services.

■ Advancing into the Japanese Market by opening a localized version of T Store

SK Telecom also announced plans to establish its presence in the Japanese market by launching a localized version of T Store (tentatively named "J Store") in September. Content, applications and User Interface (UI) will be localized and optimized to meet the needs and preferences of Japanese customers.

SK Telecom is actively developing J Store and plans to start selling applications to customers of many different mobile carriers in September. To this end, the company is in talks with Japanese handset and content distributors on issues regarding the application store’s marketing and operation as well as the creation of an ecosystem.

T Store’s entry into the Japanese market is attributable to the determination of SK Telecom to actively utilize its know-how accumulated through its establishment of application ecosystem centered around Android OS as well as the openness of Android OS. Android OS enables the establishment of an independent application store by simply downloading an application to smartphones without having to go through a local mobile carrier. SK Telecom plans to introduce J Store as an independent application store and attract Japanese customers with rich Korean content and applications.

■ Opening Global Distribution Center to help developers enter overseas markets

SK Telecom has been thoroughly preparing for overseas expansion of the T Store platform based on the localization strategy. In the same vein, the company unveiled plans to establish Global Distribution Center (GDC) next month to help developers enter and succeed in overseas markets by resolving their main obstacles and difficulties including language difference, copyright infringement and unclear settlement system.

Although SK Telecom has already been offering translation and settlement services for developers, the company decided to open GDC to meet growing needs for a more professional and comprehensive service, which was driven by accelerated pace of export of the T Store platform.

GDC’s broad range of services include, localizing and changing developers’ content and applications to suit the handset environment; provide analysis of target market; and design marketing tool tailored to each market or customer segment. Furthermore, it will provide support in operation – e.g. registration and management of applications on application market, customer complaints, etc., – thereby providing one-stop service in technology, marketing and operation.  

■ Making all-out efforts to build a total mobile ecosystem in Asia

SK Telecom will focus on expanding market for high-quality content/application development and distribution by maximizing synergies of T Store platform that has been exported to China, Japan and Taiwan. The company will especially put efforts to creating a total ecosystem by seamlessly connecting T Store platform of Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan. Under this total ecosystem, developers can distribute their applications in all four countries, thereby allowing customers to enjoy a greater choice of applications. In addition, SK Telecom’s future plans include operating supporting programs for developers like T Academy in these countries.

Lee Joo-Sik, Executive Vice President and Head of New Business Division of SK Telecom said, "SK Telecom’s partnership with China Mobile will serve as an opportunity to accelerate the global expansion of the T Store platform. SK Telecom will continue to make multifaceted efforts to enlarge T Store’s mobile ecosystem so that Korean developers can successfully make inroads into the global market."