South Korean operator SK Telecom said it will partner with East Power, a Taiwanese mobile device supplier, to launch a mobile application store called T Store in Taiwan. From June 2011, “all Android-based smartphone users in Taiwan will be able to experience a localised version of T Store and enjoy its rich applications and contents.” East Power will pre-install the T Store on all smartphones provided by its national retail network, and it will also offer an SD-card with the T Store app for existing device owners.

SK Telecom anticipates that the localised mobile apps and content provided in Taiwan can be used in its efforts in China or other Chinese-speaking countries in Southeast Asia. It said that while Taiwan is an attractive market due to its rapidly-emerging Android-based mobile industry, the total number of apps distributed stands at around 2,000, with Taiwanese mobile operators “continuously” having shown an interest both in T Store and the Korean mobile ecosystem, “where developers’ copyrights are well-protected during the whole process of application/content production and distribution.”

T Store launched in September 2009, and offers “over 80,000” applications and content items. In December 2010, it passed the 100 million downloads mark, “drawing global attention as the world’s only successful applications store set up by a mobile carrier.” It said that “upon receiving requests for cooperation from global telecom operators and content distributors,” it decided to expand T Store globally, starting in Asia. In November 2010, SK signed a MoU with Lenovo to provide content for Lenovo smartphones.