"Galaxy S21 Around 100,000 Won" Even with More Subsidies... Telecom Industry's 'Seol Peak Season' Missing

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seol Gina Jo] As COVID-19 prolongs, the traditional surge in the mobile telecommunications market during the Lunar New Year holiday has disappeared. Although some retail outlets sold the newly released Galaxy S21 at around 100,000 won, about one-tenth of the official price, the feared market overheating did not occur. The Lunar New Year peak season is now considered a thing of the past.

According to the telecommunications industry on the 15th, the number of mobile number porting cases among the three major carriers during the four-day Lunar New Year holiday from the 11th to the 14th averaged about 7,400 per day. By date, there were about 7,000 cases on the holiday's first day, the 11th, and about 7,800 on the 13th. The 12th, the Lunar New Year day, and the 14th, Sunday, were not counted due to system holidays. Subscription reservations made on the last day of the holiday, the 14th, will be activated from that day and reflected in the statistics.

These figures are only at the level of regular weekdays, not the holiday peak. Compared to last year's Lunar New Year holiday just before the full spread of COVID-19, the market is considered to have frozen solid. The Korea Communications Commission judges the market to be overheated when the daily average number of number portings reaches 24,000. An industry insider sighed, saying, "It's much worse than last year's Lunar New Year."

The Lunar New Year holiday is usually called a peak season in the industry. This is because students holding New Year's money visit stores ahead of graduation and entrance ceremonies, and children flock to gift new mobile phones to their parents. Retailers aiming for this peak season often poured out illegal subsidies, causing a surge in number porting and device changes.

However, this year, social distancing measures due to COVID-19, including bans on gatherings of five or more people, have been further strengthened, and consumption has noticeably contracted. As a result, some stores even closed during the holiday period starting on the 12th. A sales representative at a store located in Sindorim Techno Mart, Guro-gu, Seoul, said, "At least a few more customers came because it was a holiday," but added, "It's not like previous years," describing the atmosphere.

Nevertheless, on major online communities, posts confirming the so-called "Sindorim Crisis," referring to special deals at collective shopping centers, continued to appear. These posts claimed purchases of the Galaxy S21, with a retail price of 999,900 won, for between 60,000 and 150,000 won by adding illegal subsidies to holiday discounts. Slang phrases like "The weather is nice today," meaning "there are many subsidies," were also posted.

The telecommunications industry also sees that, besides the impact of COVID-19, the increase in purchases of smartphones without going through carriers (self-supply) and the combination with budget phone plans have contributed to the decrease in number porting cases.

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