How deeply have smartphones penetrated our lives and culture, and what impact will future technological innovations have?

Smartphones have become deeply entrenched in our daily lives and society by combining a variety of functions into one. With rapid technological advancements and market changes, smartphones will continue to play an important role and impact our lives.

 

By combining the functions of cell phones, computers, MP3 players, and game consoles into a single smartphone, we can do so much with a device that fits in the palm of our hand. Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives, providing a wide range of functions to many people regardless of time and place. According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Science and ICT, there are about 49 million smartphone users in Korea as of 2023. This means that more than 94% of South Korea’s total population of about 52 million people are using smartphones. Another survey by the Ministry of Science and ICT found that the average daily smartphone usage time in 2023 will be about 5.2 hours, meaning that almost one-third of our waking hours will be spent on smartphones. With the majority of people in society spending so much time on their smartphones, it is not only an investment for yourself, but also a desirable attitude as a member of society living with society.
This rapid adoption of smartphones has led to significant changes in many aspects of our lives. More than just a communication tool, smartphones are playing an essential role in education, work, leisure, finance, and many other areas. For example, many people use their smartphones to take online courses, conduct business meetings, and make payments using e-wallets, and they are increasingly being utilized in almost every aspect of our daily lives. Reflecting this shift, as smartphones have become an everyday necessity, related industries are growing rapidly. This has led to the emergence and expansion of new business models based on smartphones, and the development of infrastructure to support them.
In essence, a smartphone can be defined as a cell phone that incorporates smart technology, a technology that allows applications to be extended. Just as we use Internet Explorer, Naver Hangul, etc. on PCs running Windows operating systems, smartphones use applications specific to each operating system, but unlike other mobile phones, smartphones that incorporate smart technology are compatible with applications (hereinafter referred to as apps) that are application software between the same operating systems. Therefore, smartphone users can expand their applications by selectively installing only the apps they need in the app market where various apps are shared, and this has enabled smartphones to realize various functions. In particular, smartphones since the Apple iPhone have been equipped with various types of sensors, each of which can be utilized to drive apps, so there is a wide spectrum of ways to utilize and develop apps.
The hardware configuration of smartphones is also noteworthy. Just like a computer, a smartphone has several electronic circuitry parts including a CPU, and the structure of a smartphone can be broadly categorized into CPU, display, RAM, and ROM. First of all, the CPU used in smartphones is called AP (Application Processor) because the programs that smartphones mainly run are applications. Within the AP, there is a system called SoC (System of Chip), which means that all functions of the CPU, North Bridge, and South Bridge used in general computers, such as GPU and memory controller, are integrated in one chip (AP). Therefore, unlike computers, which integrate various types of semiconductors on the motherboard, smartphones can simply run the system on a single chip called an AP. Therefore, when designing a smartphone, the size of the board does not need to be large and the power consumption is relatively small. This is why smartphones can perform the same functions as a computer while remaining much smaller than a typical computer.
The smartphone’s display plays an important role as an output device, and when the graphics card sends commands to the display about what to show on the screen, the display takes those commands and shows them visually. In addition, RAM and ROM are memory devices, and when the AP processes commands from various processors and produces data, it is where the data is stored. Therefore, RAM and ROM affect the processing speed because they are essential devices when the AP processes commands. RAM is characterized by faster processing speeds with larger capacities, for example, DDR4 is faster than DDR2 with smaller capacities, which is why DDR4 is used in smartphones that require high performance. To use an analogy, if you’re four laborers locked in a room and you have to sort balls of different sizes, a larger room will help you get the job done because you can first sort the balls and then re-sort them into smaller categories. Similarly, the performance and efficiency of a smartphone depends on these parts working in harmony.
From the cell phones of the past to the smartphones of today, there were several transitional phones that attempted to apply different kinds of smart technology. PDA phones, which added email and office functionality to traditional cell phones, are a typical transitional phone, and the first smartphone is often referred to as the “Simon” PDA phone released by IBM in 1992. While PDA phones were increasingly marketed towards business and industrial use due to their high price and very large size, Nokia’s Symbian-powered phones began to define the concept of smartphones as opposed to PDAs in 1997. By 2007, Nokia’s smartphones had captured 40 percent of the global smartphone market and were on the verge of virtually monopolizing the smartphone market, when Apple began to redefine what a smartphone was. Prior to the Apple iPhone, PDA phones and Nokia’s smartphones emphasized office functions and had limited uses, but the Apple iPhone was equipped with a variety of sensors and the first OS to support multi-touch gestures, allowing users to create and use a wide range of apps. For example, the touch sensor on the side of the iPhone detects where your fingers are touching, and when it is confirmed that you are holding the iPhone with your left hand, an app is developed that creates an icon for an action in a location that is easy for your left thumb to reach, and the iPhone 5S introduced the first fingerprint sensor, which is used for smartphone security apps. With these apps and a unique identity, Apple became a smartphone powerhouse alongside Samsung’s Galaxy after the turbulent period from 2009 to 2013.
These developments in the smartphone market were accompanied by social and cultural changes, not just technological advances. For example, the development of social networking services (SNS) is closely linked to the spread of smartphones and has revolutionized the way people communicate. In addition, the popularization of information consumption and production through smartphones has created a new media environment, which has had a profound impact on the traditional media industry.
As of August 2015, iOS, the OS of Apple’s iPhone, accounted for 41.18% of the global smartphone OS market, while Android, the OS of Samsung’s Galaxy, accounted for 51.65%. Symbian phones, which once held up to 40% of the market, were discontinued and Nokia was acquired by MS. As Chinese and Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturers have begun to develop low-cost smartphones, experts expect Huawei, Xiaomi, and other companies to take an important position in the global smartphone market in the future. In addition, Google is currently conducting research called “Project Ara” in anticipation of a future trend of “prefabricated smartphones” that users can assemble according to their personal preferences by selecting only the parts with the features they want.
Since the advent of smartphones, the smartphone market has been changing due to various external factors, and Korea has formed a unique smartphone market unlike other countries. Korea’s smartphone market, which was dominated by Windows Mobile, began to change in 2009 when WIPI was abolished. Previously, due to the IMEI whitelisting system, foreign smartphones had to be certified by investing 300,000 to 500,000 won to be used in Korea, which discouraged Korean users from using foreign smartphones. In addition, Korea had a WIPI mandatory installation law that required all smartphones to be equipped with WIPI, which was the only platform in Korea at the time, and since this platform was different from the platform commonly used by foreign smartphones, it was difficult for manufacturers to release new models because they developed their technology based on foreign countries, and it was inconvenient for ordinary users in Korea to even use foreign smartphones. However, in 2009, the abolition of the WIPI mandate made it easier to release smartphones, and smartphones, which had been released about once a year until then, began to be widely used by individual users, with eight new models released in 2009 alone (according to SKT). The Korean smartphone market has also changed, with Nokia’s Symbian phone going on sale through KT in April 2009, the iPhone 3G going on sale through KT in November 2009, and the Android smartphone Motorola’s Motorola Moto launched through SK Telecom in January 2010. Despite this, it is still said that Korea has the smallest market share for foreign smartphones compared to other countries. Experts attribute this to the passive strategies of foreign smartphone makers rather than Korea’s own closedness. For example, when foreign smartphone makers sell to countries other than Korea, they modify their smartphones to be specialized for each country, but they only bring one or two global models to Korea and leave the promotion to Korea’s carriers, which experts say is a passive strategy.
To summarize, smartphones are characterized by the fact that they can be optionally equipped with a variety of apps regardless of the type of smartphone, and their high performance due to their computer-like electronic circuitry. While smartphones were used as business devices in the past, Apple’s attempts to install various sensors have popularized smartphones in the present, and experts predict that smartphones that can selectively choose not only software but also components will become popular in the future. Korea has developed a unique smartphone market compared to other countries, due to a variety of external factors, including legal changes such as the abolition of WIPI mandates, the development of telecommunications infrastructure, and rapid technology adoption. These factors have contributed to making smartphones more than just an everyday tool, but an economically and technologically important position.
The smartphone market has been growing steadily since its inception. As of 2022, global smartphone sales are expected to reach approximately 1.21 billion units, with the introduction of 5G smartphones in particular acting as a major growth driver for the smartphone market. At the same time, smartphone-related technologies and markets, such as apps, games, and wearable devices, are expanding rapidly. Experts predict that smartphones will continue to be at the center of technological innovation for years to come, and acquiring smartphone knowledge is essential preparation for adapting to the present and future. With the continued growth of the smartphone market and accelerating technological advancements, smartphones will continue to play an important role as a key tool in our lives.