KACHARAGADLA

Telecom stores and boutique electronics retailers across South Korea flooded with Apple fanatics all day Friday in hot pursuit of the  iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, with lines of 200 at some of the biggest stores before opening hours. At a telecom megastore in Seoul’s downtown Gwanghwamun,  25-year-old Yoo Byung-moon  camped out for  four days  to be the first in the country to collect the most popular Apple phone in Korea yet, priced between 869,000 won and 1.28 million won (about $764-$1,125). Some reports  estimated total sales  at 300,000 units on opening day, whereas 10,000 units is considered a success in Korea. Other loyal fans who were quick enough to preorder early picked up their phones in a calm, orderly manner. James Oh, who has a Galaxy S series for work and iPhone for personal use, was one of the thousands to book an iPhone when preorders opened last Friday. The three major telecoms reported record preorders, double the demand for the iPhone 6 and selling out a

American business has long led the way in high tech density or the proportion of businesses that engage in activities such as Internet software and services, hardware and semiconductors. The US is fertile ground for tech start-ups with access to capital and a culture that celebrates risk taking. Other countries have made their mark on the world stage, competing to be prominent tech and innovation hubs. Israel has been lauded as a start-up nation with several hundred companies getting funded by venture capital each year. A number of these companies are now being acquired by the likes of Apple, Facebook and Google. Finland and Sweden have attracted notice by bringing us Angry Birds and Spotify among others. But a new start-up powerhouse is on the horizon – South Korea. Bloomberg News recently published the  Bloomberg  Global Innovation Index and ranked South Korea first among all nations by comparing a group of indicators such as research & development capability, productivity