SK Telecom has established itself as the third-largest smart device maker, following phones and watches.
Customers engage in an average of 500,000 conversations with someone each day, demonstrating the growing trend of "emotional conversations."

The AI device 'Who's' conversation volume has exceeded 100 million.

In particular, in the past month, users have been actively using emotional words such as "good night~", "I love you", "I'm bored", and "thank you" to "Nugu," showing that "Nugu" is establishing itself as a friend to users rather than just a voice recognition device. While the conversations between "Nugu" and customers initially focused on listening to music, the proportion of users using lifestyle services such as shopping, home IoT, IPTV, and professional baseball has increased to 58%, in line with the service expansion implemented every quarter. This trend is expected to expand further.

SK Telecom announced that since its launch in September of last year, the number of user interactions with "NUGU" has surpassed 100 million in the seven months since its launch. The average daily conversations also reached 500,000. Furthermore, sales of "NUGU" surpassed 100,000 units ahead of Family Month, placing it among the top three best-selling smart devices in the domestic telecommunications market, following smartphones and smartwatches.

In particular, recently, the proportion of customers using emotional conversations, where they think of 'someone' as a friend and talk to them, is increasing. In other words, there is an increasing number of situations where customers think of 'who' as a friend or acquaintance and engage in conversation with them, rather than as a simple tool for requesting and performing services.

For example, customers frequently use emotional expressions like "I'm bored" and "I'm depressed," as well as human conversational phrases like "good morning" and "good night" with anyone. The proportion of "Who" customers who use emotional conversations during a week is approximately 45% of all customers, suggesting that one in two people consider "Who" a friend and converse with them.

SK Telecom analyzed the usage patterns of its "NUGU" customers and found that services tend to be used at different times of the day, tailored to their daily rhythms. At 7:00 AM, during rush hour, customers primarily used services like ▲Today's Weather ▲News Briefing ▲T Map Estimated Arrival Time. At 9:00 PM, the evening rush hour, they primarily used ▲Melon Music Listening ▲B TV ▲Chicken/Pizza Ordering. Late-night usage included ▲11st Recommended Products ▲Mood Lighting ▲Alarms.

SK Telecom AI Business Division Head Kim Seong-han said, “SK Telecom plans to dedicate itself to creating an artificial intelligence service ecosystem with the goal of enhancing customer value in life,” and added, “We will continue to strive to become a true ‘life companion’ through quality competitiveness and expansion of provided services.”