‘Galaxy S21’ for 30,000 won?… Illegal support for 3 telecommunication companies, up to 610,000 won

Input 2021.02.25 16:29 | Revision 2021.02.25 16:50

3 telecommunication companies, 300,000~600,000 won in addition to public announcement support
Provision of additional illegal rebates
‘IPhone 12 Mini’ can also be purchased for 60,000~80,000 won

The telecommunications market is showing signs of overheating ahead of graduation, enrollment and new semester this year. In front-line distribution networks, through illegal rebates (sales incentives) Samsung Electronics (005930)You can buy the latest smartphone’Galaxy S21′ for just 30,000 won.

This week that Chosun Biz acquired on the 25th SK Telecom (017670)According to the unit price table of the parent agency, in some distribution networks, rebates of up to 610,000 won are paid to customers who purchase Apple’s’iPhone 12 mini’ at an optional contract discount.

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 a public announcement subsidy from a telecommunications company. According to the Monotonic Law, if you receive a discount on an optional contract when purchasing a terminal, you cannot receive the disclosure support fund. However, the iPhone 12 mini can be purchased for 340,000 won while receiving a 25% discount on monthly rates through illegal rebates.

An additional rebate of up to KRW 490,000 is provided when the publicly disclosed support fund is selected instead of the optional contract in this unit price list. The factory price of the iPhone 12 mini is 946,000 won, and if you receive a rebate along with the public subsidy, you can purchase the iPhone 12 mini for about 60,000 to 80,000 won.

If the Galaxy S21 basic model is purchased by mobile phone number portability, an additional rebate of 510,000 won (prime plan) is added along with the public subsidy of 450,000 won. That means you can purchase the Galaxy S21 for just 30,000 won. In fact, on the Internet, reviews are appearing one after another that the product was purchased at a price similar to the unit price list.

Currently, some KT dealerships are also offering rebates of 500,000 won to iPhone 12 mini and Galaxy S21 number transfer customers. LG U+ is said to be unable to implement a high rebate policy due to insufficient marketing costs compared to its competitors. Looking at the unit price table of an LG Uplus agency, the Galaxy S21 offers rebates of up to 330,000 won.

The reason why telecommunications companies are competing over fiercely is because they failed to do business during the Lunar New Year holiday. In general, during the Lunar New Year holidays, smartphones are presented to parents, or students receive salary money and exchange terminals.

However, according to the telecom industry, the number of number transfers to the three telecom companies on the 11th, when the Lunar New Year holiday began, was estimated to be 7016 cases and 7933 cases on the 13th, which did not meet expectations. The Korea Communications Commission judges that the market is overheated if the number of number transfers per day is more than 24,000.

In addition, in the industry, it is analyzed that the KCC’s decision to introduce a separate disclosure system in March to resolve the side effects of the Single-Tong Act also affected the rebate policy.

The separate disclosure system aims to make the subsidy system transparent by separately disclosing subsidies paid to users by manufacturers such as SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus, and Samsung Electronics. It is observed that the introduction of a separate disclosure system will make the current rebate policy difficult.

Some people in the industry argue that the Korea Communications Commission is currently working to crack down on illegal rebates. An official in the telecommunications industry said, “Although market disruption activities such as fructose giveaways and discrimination against domestic and foreign nationals have been repeated, the market is intensifying because the Korea Communications Commission has not actively launched.”

In response to this point, an official from the Korea Communications Commission’s handset distribution investigation team said, “There is a risk factor for bleeding competition from some retail stores’ end-of-month performance pressure and the new semester season, but there will be no turmoil due to continuous market management.” There are many, so you have to check the authenticity.”