[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] The budget phone industry is raising expectations for subscriber growth by preparing various promotions following the recent success of the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip4.
On the 27th, according to the budget phone industry, major companies are conducting various promotions targeting buyers of the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip4 unlocked models.
KT M Mobile is offering a chance to win a 10,000 KRW E-Mart gift card by lottery and providing a 100GB data coupon for those who purchase and activate the Fold or Flip4 unlocked models by the 31st.
LG HelloVision's Hello Mobile and Medialog's U+ Budget Mobile are also running events for customers who activate Fold or Flip4 unlocked devices until the end of August. They are giving away Shinsegae gift cards worth 50,000 KRW and Galaxy Fit2 devices on a first-come, first-served basis.
According to Samsung Electronics, the Fold and Flip4 recorded their highest sales performance by selling approximately 970,000 units during the one-week pre-order period from the 16th to the 22nd, surpassing the previous model's 920,000 units.
Recently, among younger generations, the so-called "perfect combination" of purchasing unlocked devices and combining them with affordable budget phone LTE plans without contracts has gained popularity. Promotions are being prepared to coincide with the release of popular devices.
Samsung Electronics reported that for the previous Galaxy Z Fold and Flip3 models released last year, unlocked devices accounted for about 20% of total domestic sales.
According to the "Mobile Communication Planning Survey" released by Consumer Insight in January, 35% of all consumers who purchased mobile phones in the second half of last year bought unlocked devices. In particular, among budget phone users, the proportion who purchased unlocked models reached 90%. This suggests that the majority of budget phone subscribers essentially purchase unlocked devices.
As more consumers choose the unlocked device + budget phone perfect combination, budget phones are also benefiting significantly from new flagship device releases by major manufacturers.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT's "Wireless Communication Service Statistics," the number of budget phone LTE line subscribers increased by 103,520 in October last year when the iPhone 13 was released, compared to an increase of 61,182 subscribers in September.
In November, LTE line subscribers increased by 179,189, leading budget phone subscribers to surpass 10 million. When the Galaxy S22 was released in February, budget phone LTE subscribers jumped by 235,533.
As of the end of June, budget phone subscribers totaled 11,603,963. Among them, LTE subscribers numbered 10,326,229, accounting for about 89% of the total.
Meanwhile, following the success of the Fold and Flip4, Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 14 series on the 7th of next month (local time). The new releases from the two major manufacturers are anticipated to drive further growth in budget phone subscribers.
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