Pre-orders Begin for Top 3 Telecoms but 'Quiet'
No Noticeable Frenzy Like Sold-Out Craze
Amid Overheating and 20.5 Billion Won KCC Fines
The online pre-sale of the Apple iPhone 15 series (photo) is proceeding in a quieter atmosphere than expected. Compared to the sold-out situation that occurred earlier in China, it seems likely to remain a "storm in a teacup." To make matters worse, our government announced that it will impose a fine of 20.5 billion KRW on Apple, accusing the company of abusing its position as an application (app) market operator by forcing so-called "in-app payments" and using tricks.
SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus, the three mobile carriers, began accepting pre-order applications for the iPhone 15 series from midnight on the 6th. By 9 a.m., SK Telecom's T Direct Shop was conducting a second round of pre-orders for some models. SK Telecom stated, "The Pro Max 512GB model is popular." However, unlike the past iPhone 14, there was no sold-out or out-of-stock situation. An LG Uplus official said, "The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are popular," adding, "Among colors, Natural Titanium is popular for the Pro and Pro Max models, while the Pink model is popular for the base and Plus models." LG Uplus is also accepting pre-orders through the Toss app, where 540,000 customers have signed up for pre-order opening notifications.
The three carriers set the official subsidy for the iPhone 15 series at up to 450,000 KRW. While the official subsidy for iPhones has been around 200,000 KRW in the past, this time it is unusually high. If you subscribe to KT's Choice Premium plan (130,000 KRW per month), the official subsidy is 400,000 KRW for the iPhone 15 model and 240,000 KRW for other models. If you choose LG Uplus's 5G Signature plan (130,000 KRW per month), the official subsidy for the iPhone 15 model is 450,000 KRW, and 229,000 KRW for other models.
As of 2 p.m., some unlocked phone retailers such as Coupang and Baedal Minjok are temporarily out of stock, but the three carriers' websites, which account for more than 70% of smartphone subscribers, are relatively quiet.
Unlike last month in China, where the iPhone 15 series caused a sensation with sold-out situations, the domestic response is calm. At that time, when pre-orders for the iPhone 15 series began at the official Apple Store on the Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall, the Pro and Pro Max models sold out within one minute. The Apple Store website crashed within 10 minutes, and all the stock prepared that day was sold out in less than 30 minutes.
However, as soon as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models were released, a heating issue emerged, cooling public sentiment. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max feature the newly applied 'A17 Pro' chipset, and it has been analyzed that this hardware change could be the cause.
On the 30th of last month, Apple explained the overheating issue by stating, "Due to bugs in the latest iOS 17 software and some third-party apps overloading the system, device setup and user data restoration may take longer, causing the device to become hot during the first few days." To resolve the overheating problem, Apple announced on the 4th (local time) via its website that it will distribute iOS 17.0.3 for the iPhone operating system. iOS 17 is the latest operating system released alongside the new iPhone, and iOS 17.0.3 is a version with some added features.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Apple received a corrective action notice and an order to pay a fine of 20.5 billion KRW from our government. The Korea Communications Commission judged that Apple and Google, as app market operators, abused their transactional position by forcing a specific payment method and hindering fair competition. This violated the 'In-App Payment Enforcement Prohibition Act (Telecommunications Business Act)' enacted in 2021.
In particular, Apple was found to have engaged in unfair discriminatory practices by imposing fees only on domestic app developers. After hearing the operators' opinions and going through deliberation and resolution procedures, the KCC finalized plans to impose fines totaling up to 68 billion KRW, including 47.5 billion KRW on Google and 20.5 billion KRW on Apple.
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