'iPhone and Self-Sufficiency Effects' Boost Budget Phone Growth

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Thanks to the 'iPhone effect,' demand for unlocked phones has increased, allowing budget phone carriers to reap significant benefits.

According to the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association on the 19th, the number of budget phone subscribers increased by 31,674 last month. This means that more people switched their numbers from the three major carriers to budget phone carriers than vice versa.

The net increase in budget phone subscribers has been noticeably rising, with 5,138 in June, 6,967 in July, 9,909 in August, 12,433 in September, 13,039 in October, and 31,674 last month.

This indicates that more consumers are purchasing devices and SIM cards directly from online shopping malls and then switching to budget phone carriers.

The industry views the strong performance of budget phones as largely influenced by the iPhone 12 effect. In particular, the iPhone traditionally has a higher proportion of unlocked devices, positively impacting the expansion of budget phone carriers. An unlocked device refers to purchasing a phone directly from the manufacturer, electronics retailers, large discount marts, or online shopping malls without going through a mobile carrier, and then connecting it to a carrier or budget phone service.

With the iPhone 12 series being released consecutively at two-week intervals starting October 30, it has also affected the actual performance of the budget phone industry. KT M Mobile announced that the average daily number of new subscribers to three high-capacity data LTE plans increased by more than 30% from November 1 to 29 compared to the period from October 30 to November 27.

LG HelloVision also reported that the daily number of LTE unlimited SIM card subscribers increased by 27% from October average between October 30 and November 22. SK Telink saw about a 20% increase in new subscribers to LTE unlimited plans in November compared to the previous month.

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