SK Telecom goes for further integration

SK Telecom in Korea is a pretty strong company in the country's telecommunications landscape. Now it goes a step further - the company assumes that mobile service alone won't be enough in the future and as such, wants to strengthen its affiliate SK Teletech and acquire design house Bellwave, a handset maker.

This can be a valuable move, but more likely, it is dangerous. Consumers frequently purchase known brands to them - Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson or Motorola. Mobile carriers are somewhat allied with those companies. The move by SK Telecom could aliniate handset producers as SK enters their market place in a more aggressive manner by looking at handset makers that are not that much known in the market - a company named Maxon Telecom is in the play.

In the end, if the company cannot attract consumers to purchase its handsets, it might hurt the bottom line of the mothership, SK Telecom.