So, it’s not just Samsung’s Galaxy S handset that’s going down a storm on the Korean peninsula; although it was the first smartphone ever to pass the 2 million unit milestone in the manufacturer’s home market.

South Korean telco KT, which has exclusive rights to Apple’s device, has confirmed iPhone sales have passed the 2 million mark in barely 14 months.

By way of comparison, UK wireless carrier O2 shipped its 2 millionth iPhone in February 2010, over two years after Apple’s smartphone debuted on its network.

Healthy appetite

Apple’s iconic mobile only touched down in the East Asian region in November 2009 after bouts of regulatory wrangling, the 3GS model made available to South Korean customers at the time.

iPhone 4 was launched in the country in September 2010, breaking through the 1 million shipment barrier in little over a month and indicating the population’s increasingly voracious appetite for handsets of this ilk.

Competition, competition, competition

Whilst KT’s exclusivity deal on the iPhone continues to bear considerable fruit in the nation of 48 million, its rival operator SK Telecom has turned to Google’s mobile OS for competitive alternatives.

The aforementioned Galaxy S has taken on the role of vanguard for South Korea’s #1 carrier since the summer, with LG’s recently unleashed Optimus 2X seeking to challenge its status as the hippest Android kid on the block.

All told, the South Korean market is expected to grow from 6.1 million handsets to 16.1 million in the next year, and it’ll be fascinating to see how many of those carry the Apple or Google logo.

[source: TUAW]