Drive-Thru Followed by 'Unmanned Activation'... Up to 500,000 KRW Subsidy for Galaxy S21 (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Following the drive-thru service where customers received new smartphones inside their cars, the first-ever 'unmanned activation' event was held. This is a new landscape in the mobile telecommunications industry brought about by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the industry on the 22nd, SK Telecom held the country's first unmanned activation event for the Galaxy S21 at the Hongdae ICT Multiplex T Factory on the 22nd. Considering COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, the unmanned activation system was applied to the event for the first time ever. Customers selected through prior application visited the unmanned purchase area inside T Factory from 9 a.m. at intervals to activate their reserved devices.

SK Telecom stated, "Customers who participated in the event became the first in the country to activate the Galaxy S21 contactlessly." In line with this launch, SK Telecom also installed the Galaxy S21 experience zone, ‘Galaxy Studio,’ inside T Factory for the first time in Korea.

LG Uplus, instead of recklessly holding offline activation events amid the spread of COVID-19, selected employees’ family members as the first customers to activate. The company recently collected stories from employees about why subscribing to the Galaxy S21 and U+ Together bundled product was necessary.

The first customer is 17-year-old Yook Joeun, son of Yook Junhyup, a cloud architecture team leader in the technology division. About to enter high school, Joeun said, "I always inherited the phone my dad used, but I’m very happy to receive the Galaxy S21 with such a great camera function," adding, "It feels even more meaningful to be LG Uplus’s first activation customer."

KT chose YouTube Live. On the eve of the launch, they held a YouTube launch event with mukbang BJ Tzuyang. Mukbang BJ 'Tzuyang' and broadcaster 'Park Kwon' camped indoors at the Andaz Hotel with customers invited through a contactless lottery, trying out the Galaxy S21 while doing mukbang.

Since COVID-19, such untact events have firmly taken root. The scenes of staying overnight in front of downtown stores before activation are nowhere to be seen. Last year, SK Telecom’s Galaxy Note20 activation event, where customers received smartphones in a parking lot by taking a T map taxi that came to their homes, was a hot topic.

SK Telecom announced that, based on the Galaxy S21 pre-order results until the day before, half of the subscribers were customers in their 20s and 30s. Among the models, the Ultra accounted for about 50%.

On the pre-order activation day, the official subsidies from the three mobile carriers were confirmed to be up to 500,000 KRW, more than double that of the previous model. By company, SK Telecom offered 225,000 to 500,000 KRW, KT 262,000 to 500,000 KRW, and LG Uplus 268,000 to 500,000 KRW, matching the amounts announced and increased during the pre-order period.

Considering that the official subsidies for the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note20 from the three carriers were around 240,000 KRW at most, this is more than double. The actual purchase price of the Galaxy S21, based on the highest rate plan and including additional distribution subsidies, drops to the low 400,000 KRW range. However, for most consumers, it is more advantageous to receive a 25% selection discount rather than the official subsidy on most rate plans. The Galaxy S21’s retail price is 999,900 KRW.