SK Telecom has effectively withdrawn from its urban air mobility (UAM) business after selling a significant portion of its equity in Joby Aviation, the world's No. 1 UAM company, which it had held. With commercialization delayed and business uncertainty mounting, the move is seen as a shift to concentrate its capabilities on its core telecommunications business and artificial intelligence (AI), instead of UAM whose monetization timeline is distant.
According to reporting compiled by ChosunBiz on the 18th, SK Telecom disposed of about two-thirds of its Chobi equity in the fourth quarter of last year. As a result, SK Telecom's equity stake in Chobi fell from 2.1% to 0.7%. In 2023, SK Telecom invested about $100 million (about 148.7 billion won) in Chobi and formed a strategic partnership.
Industry sources said SK Telecom reportedly acquired the Chobi equity at around $6 per share. Considering Chobi's stock traded in the $10–$20 range in the fourth quarter of last year, the sale likely realized a considerable investment profit. If it sold in the $10 range, it is estimated to have earned around 50 billion won, and if it sold in the $20 range, around 200 billion won in revenue.
SK Telecom had been jointly promoting the domestic UAM business based on its strategic partnership with Chobi. It planned to pursue commercialization using Chobi aircraft by participating in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Korea urban air mobility demonstration project (K-UAM Grand Challenge). It actually joined the phase-one demonstration at the end of 2024 and succeeded in a test flight with a Chobi aircraft in Goheung, South Jeolla. However, signs of downsizing emerged when it did not join phase two of the K-UAM Grand Challenge demonstration in Oct. last year. With the sale of the Chobi equity, the UAM business has effectively entered the exit phase. The trend also showed up in personnel moves. In Nov. last year, Vice President Kim Jeong-il, who had overseen the UAM business, stepped down in SK Telecom's executive reshuffle. Kim had led the demonstration project team since 2022 when SK Telecom entered the UAM business and was promoted to vice president in charge of UAM at the end of 2023, leading the related organization.
Inside and outside SK Telecom, the decision is being interpreted not just as recouping a financial investment but as part of a broader business portfolio reshuffle. With the company recently emphasizing strengthening competitiveness in its core telecom business and expanding new AI ventures, it lowered the priority of UAM, which carries significant long-term uncertainty.
An SK Telecom official said, "We sold the equity in line with a companywide strategic shift to focus our capabilities on telecommunications and AI."
The UAM business readjustment is not unique to SK Telecom. As the government postponed the target timing for UAM commercialization from 2025 to 2028, citing issues such as aircraft supply, expectations across the industry have cooled. In fact, only two of the seven consortiums that took part in phase one joined phase two of the K-UAM Grand Challenge: the "One Team," including Korean Air Lines, Hyundai Motor and KT, and the "Dream Team" of Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) and Hanwha Systems. The "Future Team" of LG Uplus, GS Engineering & Construction and Kakao Mobility also declared they would not participate.
An industry official said, "At first, telecommunications, mobility and aviation corporations rushed in, but as the commercialization timeline slipped and revenue models became unclear, the trend lately has been to choose and focus."