(contined from previous post)
…it wasn’t until 1991 that Qualcomm secured its first customer, Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute! And the rest, as they say, is history.
This is a great example showing that Korea has been an early adopter of technology for a long time; just recently an article in Barrons declared that Korean Internet access is 15 years ahead of the US. Koreans are always looking for what’s new and better and over the last couple decades, many non-Korean wireless IT companies have used Korea as a testbed for new technologies and standards.
This past week, Korean President Myung-Bak Lee announced $151 billion of government investment over three years into the IT sector, believing that this area represents the basis for Korean economic strength for the future. (Click here for an article about it in the English online version of the Joongang Daily [EXPIRED LINK REMOVED: https://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2909584])
Looking back over the last 20 years of Korean economic history, it’s no surprise that way back in 1991, Korea would have been the first customer for Qualcomm and the catalyst of this global technological change, or that today, Korea would be a leader in the IT sector, having been willing to look for the next big thing and to take risks and find opportunities in areas that are overlooked.
But this wasn’t the only example in Open Business Models of how Korea has promoted global business change…
