South Korea’s secondhand phone seller Good Mobile will revive and launch SKY brand smartphone and folder phone within the first half of this year.

The company announced Monday that it signed a comprehensive agreement with Pantech, the nation’s smallest handset maker owning SKY brand, to have an exclusive license to manufacture SKY phones and take over SKY and Pantech service centers.

Under the agreement, the company will launch each smartphone and folder phone semiannually in cooperation with researchers from Pantech. The new phones will be manufactured overseas in the form of original equipment manufacturing (OEM), and supplied to the nation’s three major wireless carriers – KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus – as well as budget mobile carriers. Its smartphone is expected to be available at 200,000 won ($178) to 300,000 won, and folder phone at around 100,000 won.

The company will also restore service center channels for SKY, which in its heyday was No. 2 in the cellular phone market. The brand that has failed to keep its competitiveness amid fierce competition with global smartphone markers like Samsung and Apple saw the number of its service centers shrink from more than to the current 13. Good Mobile aims to increase the number to at least 50 by the end of this year.

Its first SKY smartphone will feature blue-tooth function and wireless earbuds. The company will also launch related internet of things (IoT) and mobile devices.

“SKY brand is an important asset in Korea’s mobile industry,” said Park Jong-il, chief executive of Good Mobile. “At a time when 5G network is being expanded across the country, we will provide more various options for phones and devices to domestic consumers.”

By Lee Sun-hee and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]