Quantum Security Phone Tested One Million Times, Behind It Was SKT

SK Telecom and Bitree's 'Win-Win Collaboration' Masterpiece
World's First Quantum Security Applied 'Security Specialized Phone' Released
Development Since 2016...?Japan Achievement

SK Telecom's Galaxy A Quantum, developed in collaboration with the promising company 'Bitree', features the world's first applied QRNG (Quantum Random Number Generator) chipset.

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] "Coexistence with semiconductor design companies was desperately needed. The development accelerated as the small but strong company Bitree joined." (Eom Sang-yoon, Head of IDQ Korea branch, SK Telecom subsidiary)

"The development process was not easy from A to Z, but thanks to SK Telecom's cooperation, we were able to develop quantum security technology in the optimal environment." (Kim Hee-geol, Vice President of Bitgirl)

At the 'Galaxy A Quantum Quantum Security (QRNG) Development Press Conference' held on the 11th at Bitree headquarters in Bundang, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Eom Sang-yoon, head of IDQ, and Kim Hee-geol, Vice President (CTO) of Bitgirl, praised each other. The significance of the 'technical achievement' of applying quantum security technology, considered the safest among existing technologies, to smartphones for the first time in the world as a joint product of large and small-medium enterprises was that great. The 'Galaxy A Quantum,' released on the 22nd of last month, was invested in by SK Telecom, and Bitree was responsible for semiconductor design. IDQ, acquired by SK Telecom in 2018 for 70 billion won, developed the core technology.

◆ Start of security-specialized phone development in 2016 = The meeting between SK Telecom and Bitree dates back to 2016. At that time, SK Telecom's Quantum Research Institute planned to develop the world's safest smartphone by applying quantum security technology. The goal was to create a 'security-specialized phone' that could protect sensitive personal information such as various financial data, contacts, photos, and social network services (SNS) from hacking. The problem was the size of the quantum security technology chip. To be installed in a smartphone, it required technology integration at the semiconductor chipset level. SK Telecom met Bitree, a small but strong semiconductor design company, and proposed, "Let's combine your semiconductor design capabilities and quantum security technology to develop an innovative security-specialized phone."

Bitree gladly accepted SK Telecom's proposal. Over the next four years, until the ultra-small chipset measuring 2.5mm by 2.5mm was produced, Bitree repeated one million tests and design changes. Vice President Kim Hee-geol said, "The quantum security chipset contains numerous precision components such as image sensors and power adapters," adding, "Every time the size was reduced, the design of all components had to be redone, and SK Telecom's support was a great help each time."

◆ Large, medium, and small cooperation achieves 'de-Japanization' = The quantum security cooperation between SK Telecom and Bitree is also significant in terms of 'de-Japanization' of the materials, parts, and equipment industry. They secured global competitiveness through technological cooperation between large and small-medium enterprises in the semiconductor parts sector, which had been led by Japan.

The Galaxy A Quantum is gaining not only technical legitimacy but also practical benefits. The Galaxy A Quantum, which began mass production procedures in April this year, conducted pre-orders from the 15th to the 20th of last month, and its sales volume exceeded three times that of the Galaxy A80 and five times that of the Galaxy A51, showing strong initial popularity. This is the result of increased consumer interest in the wake of successive smartphone hacking incidents and financial information leaks.

SK Telecom expects that more global companies in various fields will require security technology in the 5G era and plans to expand related businesses. They plan to enhance performance by installing quantum security chipsets in semiconductors used in automotive electronics and cloud industries, where demand for next-generation security functions is high. Eom Sang-yoon, head of the branch, stated, "We are promoting business supplying to global smartphone, Internet of Things (IoT), and autonomous driving companies, and some are becoming visible." Kim Dong-woo, head of SK Telecom's Quantum Growth Promotion Team, said, "We plan to expand the quantum security smartphone lineup by supplying quantum security chipsets to global smartphone manufacturers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.