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Galaxy A51

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Smartphone manufacturers are launching smartphones dedicated to budget phone carriers to resolve the shortage of budget phone devices. They also plan to supply smartphones to budget phone operators at even lower prices.

According to the industry on the 3rd, LG Electronics is internally considering launching at least one budget phone dedicated device in the second half of the year. The intention is to help attract budget phone subscribers by releasing mid-range products exclusively for budget phones. Samsung Electronics is discussing a plan to supply mid-range devices such as the Galaxy A series to budget phone operators at even lower prices. Market Korea, a business-to-business consumables (MRO) company, will identify device demand from budget phone operators, and Samsung Electronics will supply accordingly.

An official from the Budget Phone Association said, "To revitalize the budget phone market, expanding budget phone dedicated devices is necessary, and we are discussing this with manufacturers." The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to announce policies to revitalize budget phones, including measures to resolve the device shortage, within this month.

Compared to mobile carriers that procure hundreds of thousands of devices, budget phone operators have lower device procurement volumes and thus less bargaining power on prices. Small and medium-sized operators, excluding subsidiaries of mobile carriers such as LG HelloVision, KT M Mobile, and SK Telink, have faced difficulties in device procurement. Although budget phones have been launched for 10 years, the number of subscribers remains stagnant for this reason.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the number of budget phone subscribers was 7.34 million as of the end of May, a decrease of more than 110,000 compared to the previous month. The number fell below 8 million in May last year, and the monthly subscriber decrease as of the end of May this year was the largest since January. Although mid-range smartphones such as the Galaxy A series and iPhone SE have been released, they have not significantly impacted the increase in budget phone subscribers. In this situation, the budget phone industry expects relief if Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics support the supply of budget phone devices.

An industry official said, "Although budget phone rates are cheap, the high device prices made the perceived benefit low, and small and medium operators had difficulty lowering prices due to limited supply volume, so this will be helpful," but added, "Measures that address operators' pressing issues, such as wholesale price reductions, are also necessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.