After weeks of anticipation, the iPhone X finally launched in South Korea today.
But before the tenth anniversary phone could hit shelves, Apple had its Seoul office raided by South Korean Authorities.
Reports suggest that investigators raided the office to ask Apple questions about its business practices ahead of the iPhone X launch.
But it also raises questions about whether South Korean authorities are attempting to hamper the success of the X in Samsung’s home market.
After weeks of anticipation, the iPhone X finally launched in South Korea today. But before the tenth anniversary phone could hit shelves, Apple had its Seoul office raided by South Korean Authorities
A report by Metro.co.uk suggests that investigators from the Korean Fair Trade Commission visited Apple’s Seoul office earlier this week to ‘ask questions about its business practices’.
While the outcome of the visit remains unknown, Apple went ahead with the launch of the iPhone X in South Korea today.
This isn’t the first time that Apple has had a run-in with Korean authorities.
Last year, authorities opened an investigation into whether Apple struck ‘unfair’ contracts with local phone networks.
The Metro.co.uk report suggests that this latest raid is part of this ongoing investigation.
While South Korean tech firms, including LG and Samsung, used to dominate the smartphone market in the country, Apple took a 33 per cent share in 2015.
A report by Metro.co.uk suggests that investigators from the Korean Fair Trade Commission visited Apple’s Seoul office earlier this week to ‘ask the firm questions about its business practices’. Pictured is the Seoul skyline
This sparked authorities to launch a task force dedicated to exploring whether foreign firms were hurting the domestic smartphone market.
Erik Telford, president of the Franklin Centre for Government & Public Integrity describes this behaviour as ‘alarming.’
In an article for The Hill, he said: ‘South Korea’s anti-trust agency has exhibited alarming behaviour that threatens the viability of companies doing business in South Korea, including such major American corporations as Apple, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and Qualcomm.’
MailOnline has contacted Apple for comment.