VK Mobile
| VK Mobile
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1997 |
| Seat | Anyang , South Korea |
| management | Yi Cheol-sang (CEO) |
| sales | 309,724,000,000 won (2005) |
| Branch | telecommunications |
| Website | [1] |
VK Mobile is a Korean cell phone and battery manufacturer that was originally founded in 1997 to produce batteries and expanded to include cell phones and cell phone technology in 2001.
Company history
VK Mobile was founded in September 1997 as Viable Korea and in October of the same year received an exclusive contract with Samsung for the production of lithium polymer batteries . In April 1998, the PCS Phone was the first mobile phone to come onto the market that was equipped with a battery they produced. The first lithium polymer batteries will be delivered in May 2000.
In October 2000 they are listed for the first time in KOSDAQ (048760).
In September 2001 they expanded their business area to include mobile communications and delivered the first GSM handsets to Hong Kong , where in March 2002 they opened their first overseas office, VK Telecom (HK) , and renamed themselves VK Corporation . In the same month they also receive the sales permit for China in order to open a production facility and offices there a few months later. In June 2002 the company expanded to the European market - to Italy.
In January 2003 they acquire the first license for telecommunications handsets from the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and in December of the same year they introduce their first CDMA handset - VK100 .
In February 2004, Vodafone becomes the first major customer for cell phones. VK Mobile USA, Inc. is founded in the United States in March . In July they take the lead in the list of the fastest growing companies in Korea.
On July 7, 2006, VK Mobile filed for bankruptcy after being unable to meet liabilities of 1.78 billion won due to an aggressive marketing strategy and currency fluctuations. However , this was averted by a financial injection from the South Korean government and a large order from Motorola . However, part of the workforce had to be laid off. Production was reduced to a third.
Products
The best- known product from VK Mobile is the VK2000 , an extremely slim and small GSM mobile radio device that received the Red Dot Design Award in 2006 .