‘Galaxy S21’ 5G customer battle… LGU+ with a sharp knife, KT with a crossfire, and a laid-back SKT

Input 2021.01.18 15:08 | Revision 2021.01.18 15:25

LGU+ sets up to 500,000 won for public announcement of Galleries S21
KT also upgraded to LGU+ level in one day
SK Telecom, looking at the trend of competitors, “contemplating various plans”

3 mobile communication companies Samsung Electronics (005930)Ahead of the official launch of the’Galaxy S21′, the company is engaged in a fiercely alert operation to expand public announcement subsidies to secure 5G mobile communication (5G) customers. Summarizing the current situation, when LG U+ gets the number of matches first, KT throws a check, and SK Telecom is watching it slowly. The advance reservation for Galaxy S21 will be held until the 21st, and it will enter the pre-system on the 22nd to 28th. The official release is on the 29th.

According to the industry on the 18th SK Telecom (017670)Is still KT(030200)Likewise, we are considering raising the public announcement subsidy for the Galaxy S21 series. As it has been a few days since pre-orders started, the company plans to look more closely at competitors’ trends and make decisions.

An official from SK Telecom said, “It is still difficult to say definitively as it is a public announcement subsidy for advance notice, but we are reviewing various measures.” “We expect that there will be more customers who choose the option agreement.” The optional contract discount is a system where you receive a 25% discount on the monthly rate plan by contracting for one or two years instead of receiving publicly announced subsidies from the telecommunications company.

Earlier, the three telecom companies started pre-sale for the Galaxy S21 series from the 15th and set public support funds. Looking at the size of the support fund, SK Telecom was 87,000 to 170,000 won, and KT was 100,000 to 240,000 won, similar to the Galaxy Note 20 released in the second half of last year. On the other hand LG Uplus (032640)Is the largest among the three telecom companies, increasing the amount of public announcement subsidies to 260,000 to 500,000 won. It is a will to expand its market share again in the 5G market that is solidifying with 5:3:2 (SKT 50%, KT 30%, LGU+ 20%).

In response to LG U+’s aggressive actions, KT eventually changed the public announcement subsidy to 262 000 ~ 500,000 won, which is similar to that of LG U Plus, in one day on the 16th. KT’s change in the public support fund within one day is interpreted by its will to prevent customers from crowding at LG U+ even one day during the reservation period.

KT has almost experienced a reversal of market share by LG U+ in the early stages of the 5G commercialization market in 2019. At the time, LG U+ expanded its 5G market share to 29% as of June 2019 through aggressive marketing, narrowing the gap with KT (31.4%), the second place, by 2.4 percentage points. As a result, it was predicted that the traditional ‘5:3:2’ share structure of the three telecom companies will change to ‘4:3:3’.

Unlike KT, SK Telecom hasn’t shown much movement yet. It is interpreted that SK Telecom is not in such a hurry because it has already widened its market share with competitors in the 5G market.

According to the latest wireless communication service subscriber statistics released by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the number of 5G subscribers nationwide as of November last year was about 1.93 million. The market share by telecom service provider is SK Telecom 46.2%, KT 30.5%, and LG U+ 23.2%.

However, sales of the Galaxy S21 series are expected to be at least 10% higher than the previous Galaxy S20 series. There are still a long time left of customers who will transition from LTE (4G) to 5G subscribers. As of last year, only about 50 million domestic 4G mobile communication (4G) subscription lines were reached.

In addition, sales of the Galaxy S21 series this month are expected to be 20% higher than the sales of the Galaxy S20 series released last year. In the telecommunications industry, SK Telecom is also expected to raise the public announcement subsidy to a level similar to that of its competitors.

An official in the telecommunications industry said, “Galaxy S21 self-sufficient phone sales are expected to be higher than ever in the Galaxy series, but many self-sufficient phone purchase customers choose the LTE plan instead of the 5G plan.” I will have no choice but to attract,” he said.