Smartphone manufacturing and North Korea don’t really go hand in hand. The DPRK’s neighbor, South Korea, is home to behemoths such as LG and Samsung. DPRK does not have companies like these that manufacture smartphones and then sell them all around the world, even if it did, they probably wouldn’t be able to sell those devices due to various sanctions. Despite that, North Korean state media claims that they have developed their very own smartphone using “indigenous technology.” Perhaps they might be referring to the hardware, because there’s nothing indigenous about the software of this smartphone, it runs Android, which is owned and developed by Google.
Called the AS1201 Arirang, it is said that the camera on this smartphone offers “high pixels.” No information about the internal specifications has been revealed. Its possible that internet connectivity might be disabled on the AS1201, given that North Korean’s aren’t allowed to access the internet. Some media outlets claim that this smartphone is actually manufactured in China and then boxed in North Korea. The state media hasn’t mentioned how much it costs and who will be allowed to purchase this device. [Image via PhoneArena]
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