First Year of eSim Introduction... Subscriber Status is a "Trade Secret"

"40,000 Subscribers"...Low Usage, Not Disclosed
US iPhones Equipped with eSIM Only...Japan Uses Disaster Roaming
eSIM Users Switch Carriers 3 Times More...Promoting Competition

It has been a year since the introduction of eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identity Module), but it remains largely ineffective. Due to the low number of subscribers, operators refuse to disclose the current status, resulting in a lack of statistics. On the 5th, the office of Yoon Young-chan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, requested eSIM subscriber status data from the Ministry of Science and ICT and operators, but received a response stating that "it is difficult to submit as it pertains to trade secrets."

The Ministry of Science and ICT publishes the "Wireless Communication Service Subscription Status Statistics" every month, which aggregates the number of subscriptions by carrier, technology type, usage, and category. However, there have been no subscriber statistics for eSIM since its commercialization began in September last year.

[Image source=Pixabay]

The reason operators are reluctant to disclose eSIM subscriber numbers appears to be due to extremely low usage. Among the three major mobile carriers, one has about 40,000 eSIM subscribers. Even LG Uplus, which has the fewest subscribers among the three, had 16.88 million lines as of July. At most, eSIM subscribers barely exceed 0.2% of the total subscribers. Although MVNOs, which frequently change numbers due to no contracts, have a slightly better situation, their subscriber numbers are also low. One MVNO company stated, "The proportion of eSIM subscribers among total subscribers is in the single digits, making it difficult to disclose."

Unlike a physical USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) chip inserted into a smartphone, eSIM is an embedded subscriber identification device within the smartphone. Users can download the carrier profile via a QR code, similar to downloading an app, eliminating the need to visit offline stores or wait for USIM delivery. When used simultaneously with a USIM, a single device can use two phone numbers.

The industry believes that the low number of subscribers is due to eSIM-supported devices being mainly high-end models. Apple has equipped eSIM slots since the iPhone XS released in 2018, but domestic iPhone users account for only about 20%. Samsung Electronics, the market leader, began supporting dual SIM functionality in Korea with the Galaxy Z Flip and Fold 4 released in 2022. Dual SIM is mainly available on flagship models such as the Galaxy S and Z series. Among mid-range devices, only the Galaxy A54 (Galaxy Quantum 4) supports dual SIM, but it is an SKT-exclusive device, limiting its purchase.

Since the primary number is already used with a USIM, users subscribe to a second number via eSIM, and demand for this is low. Before eSIM commercialization, the three major carriers offered a service allowing two numbers on one device as an additional service. However, a telecommunications industry insider explained that usage was minimal even then.

There is a need to consider ways to activate eSIM. According to a Counterpoint Research survey, total smartphone shipments in 2022 decreased by 3% compared to the previous year, but shipments of eSIM-supported devices increased by 11%. Apple has sold iPhone 14 models without a USIM slot and only with eSIM in the U.S. market since last year to reduce hardware weight. It is expected that Android devices will follow this trend in the long term, making eSIM the primary number. Additionally, Japanese carrier KDDI uses eSIM for emergency roaming after a large-scale communication outage. When the main line is down due to a communication disaster, eSIM allows the use of other carriers' lines to maintain uninterrupted communication services.

Activating eSIM could be a way to invigorate competition in the telecommunications market. Market research firm Opensignal announced that only 10.8% of domestic smartphone users changed carriers in the first quarter of this year, but among eSIM users, 37.7% switched carriers. In the U.S., third-place carrier T-Mobile launched the easy eSIM enrollment feature "Easy Switch" to attract subscribers from other carriers. Andrey Popov, a researcher at Opensignal, said, "eSIM allows consumers to easily change carriers without face-to-face enrollment or waiting for USIM delivery. Carriers will develop new strategies to secure subscribers."

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