It took only four days for Apple to knock down Samsung Electronics, which controls more than half of the mobile phone market in Korea.

After KT, the only distributor of iPhone in the local market, began accepting pre-orders of the iconic smartphone through its online store on Sunday, competitor Samsung today lowered the price of its flagship smartphone, the “T Ominia 2.” SK Telecom, the distributor of the T Omnia 2 has also raised subsidies on their smartphone. With this discount, users are able to buy the T Ominia 2 at similar price to the iPhone. About 15,000 users which bought the T Ominia 2 since the launch last month, however, will not receive any benefits from the recent iPhone effect.

The large discount of a mobile phone’s price only a month after release has no previous example in the local market, especially for the No. 1 mobile-phone maker and the No. 1 mobile carrier. This drastic price cut was most likely due to the “iPhone Effect.”

Thanks to the iPhone, industry watchers expect that the price bubble of high-end mobile phones, including smartphones, in the local market will burst. Until now, Samsung and LG Electronics have set higher prices for their phones in the local market in comparison to other countries.

In the meantime, Daum, Korea’s No. 2 portal announced in September that it will plan to offer iPhone for free, including service charges to all of its employees (a workforce of around 1,000), so they can experience advanced mobile service through the iPhone. Recently, however, the company added the T Omnia 2 as an option for smartphone selection due to alleged lobbying from SK Telecom and Samsung, which are major advertisers on the portal site.

While Samsung is busy attempting to extinguish the “iPhone effect,” LG, the No.2 mobile phone maker, with a 22% market share in Korea, has taken no particular actions.

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