A Push for Browser Dirversity in Korea: Cracks in the Microsoft Monoculture?

An excellent article in The Wall Street Journal today by Evan Ramstad.  Entitled appropriately "At Last:  A Push for Browser Diversity in Korea," it reports on the somewhat amazing effort by the Korean government to wean people off their heavy dependence upon Microsoft's IE6 browser and to encourage use of Firefox, Chrome and other browsers.

As the article notes,South Korea’s major Internet portals and government regulators are trying to pull the country’s Internet users into the 21st century. How? With a campaign to wean South Koreans off a decade-old Microsoft Corp. browser and some related security technology that is way out of date.

The campaign seeks to fix the essential contradiction in South Korea’s technology environment — the government in the late 1990s built amazing broadband infrastructure all over the country, but in 1999 imposed rules that locked users to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and an encryption method that made them vulnerable to hacking and software viruses.

I highly recommend that you read the entire article by Ramstad.

Korea's Microsoft Monoculture: The Problems of Active X

The introduction of Apple's iPhone has helped to highlight the problem posed by Korea's continued heavy reliance on Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser and corresponding heavy reliance on Active-X controls for online banking and financial transactions. (see the accompanying graphic--click the graphic to see full-size version)  As noted in a Joongang Daily article today, internet users in Korea waste an untold amount of time downloading and installing security programs that use Active-X controls.  It can take five to ten minutes to install such programs in order to access a banking page.  If a program is installed once a year on ten million PCs in Korea, that could amount to one million hours of lost work time, assuming ten minutes for installation.  Since Korea's minimum wage is 4,000 won, annual losses would total 4 billion won, in that example.

The Joongang Daily article does not even mention the fact that Active-X has been recognized as a web security risk for years and therefore is not widely used in other countries.  Now, the problem is compounded with the rapid introduction of "smart phone" devices, most of which use web browsers that are not compatible with Active-X.  Clearly, something has to give here, and it would appear that it will be use of Microsoft's web browser and its proprietary Active-X technology.  This will be good for Korean consumers and will put this country more in line with global trends.

More on the Microsoft Monoculture in Korea

The explosive transformation taking place in South Korea's mobile broadband market is creating ripples that go in all directions.  The local media and blogs are picking up on the fact that Korea's electronic transaction and internet banking regulations are causing inconvenience for users and businesses.  The current laws favor a sort of Microsoft monoculture, which has been the subject of earlier posts.

The Hankyoreh carried an excellent article on this topic a couple of days ago.   When I saw the drawing that accompanied the article, I just knew that this would require a post here.  It depicts Microsoft's ActiveX as a ball and chain restraining Korea's online market and online banking.  A great illustration with a powerful message!

Korea's e-business Mired in the Past?

An editorial in the English edition of the Chosun Ilbo today declared that "Korea's E-Business is Mired in the Past."  It pointed out that people in Korea cannot shop online, do internet banking, or access government or tax office sites using their smartphones.  The editorial notes that this is unheard of in the 80 other countries that introduced smartphones (read Apple iPhone and Android phones) before Korea.

The reason for this situation is the officially certified electronic payment standard used in Korea, which was introduced in 2000.  To meet that standard, local companies developed solutions that were only compatible with  Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and required use of ActiveX controls.  According to the Chosun Ilbo, Korea is the only country in the world to use a certification program using only ActiveX functions. Furthermore, it notes that other countries have chosen standard web technologies that can be used on both personal computers and smartphones and do not require users to download one ActiveX security program after another to make a single electronic payment.

More on Microsoft Monoculture: Mobile Phones

The Chosun Ilbo English edition carried an interesting article yesterday headlined, "Microsoft Can't Get a Handle on Mobile Phone OS Market." Of course it can't. This is highly relevant to the current situation here in the Korean market, which has been described as a "Microsoft Monoculture." (see my earlier post) The article relates to a growing concern I've had with developments, or lack of development, in South Korea's mobile market over the past several years. This nation, which has the most extensive and advanced digital networks in the world and where 100 percent of the population carry 3G, internet-browsing capable phones, finds itself in the somewhat embarassing situation. Only about 10 percent of the population actually use there phones to surf the web, for two reasons. First, the exorbitantly high data rates. Second, and more importantly, two of the three mobile service providers do not even allow web-browsing on most of their phones, instead providing a Korean-language only walled-garden database which, in the case of SK Telecom is called "Nate." All of this prompts the following observations.

• Microsoft's whole business model was built around the PC and desktop computing, an era which is now ending with the advent of cloud computing and true mobile broadband.


• To be more specific, Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform was modeled after Windows itself, which may only now be emerging from the disaster of Windows Vista. Industry and expert reviews of the latest versions of Windows Mobile are hardly encouraging. Those who know a little bit about software will surely go for Android, Apple's iPhone or Symbian before venturing into a Windows Mobile user environment.


• Korea's major handset makers, LG and Samsung, both have big business deals with Microsoft. In the case of LG, it made a long term commitment to manufacture handsets using the Windows Mobile platform. Samsung is currently trying to sell its Omnia and other nice new AMOLED touch screen phones in Korea, with the Windows Mobile OS. This at a time when consumers here in Korea want the iPhone or something much like it--the Android.


• Both mobile service providers and handset manufacturers in Korea appear to have "missed the boat" in the Korean mobile market by about two and a half years. That is how long ago the Apple iPhone was first introduced in the U.S. and some other markets. Korea will catch up. I never bet against this country in the long term, but valuable time has been lost.


• I expect to see Android emerge as the leading OS for mobile communication over the next 5-10 years, perhaps even sooner. There are solid reasons for this expectation. Read David Pogue's review of Motorola's Droid in the New York Times.

Korea's Microsoft Monoculture: the Downside

There is an excellent article in today's Korea Times about the price South Korea is paying for an almost exclusive reliance upon Microsoft Windows based software and its "Active-X" controls.  As the article notes, some critics would claim that the almost complete reliance on Microsoft software here makes the country's computing experience outdated by about a decade, compared with the rest of the world. As the article notes, ". . . Linux, Firefox, Chrome and Opera users can't bank or purchase products online, and where Mac users buy Windows CDs to prevent their devices being reduced to fashion items."
It is going to be a major challenge to break this heavy reliance on Microsoft and introduce some healthy diversity into the Korean market. However, it is a challenge that must be met for this country to remain competitive and in tune with global developments.