[Report] Galaxy S24 at 80,000 Won: "It Will Drop Even More"

Techno Mart by the Riverside on the 6th, Anticipation for the Abolition of the 단통법
Adding Galaxy 24 Could Bring Price Down to 80,000 Won... "Might Drop Further"
Some Respond That Change Is Difficult Without Changes in Release Price

"If the DanTongBeop is lifted, prices could go down even more. If it’s not urgent, keep an eye on the trend and come back later."

On the 6th, a store employee at Gangbyeon Techno Mart in Seoul is consulting with a customer who came to purchase a mobile phone.
Photo by Hwang Seoyul chestnut@

On the 6th at Gangbyeon Techno Mart in Seoul, a retail store employee who was consulting about purchasing the Galaxy S24 basic model via number portability (switching carriers) handed over his business card and said this. He added, "If you need to switch carriers, it might be better to come back in a few months," explaining, "If competition becomes more active, carriers will likely offer higher number portability subsidies to attract customers."

At the store, they were trying to attract customers by adding illegal subsidies to lower the device price as much as possible. After over an hour of consultation at the store that day, one store showed on paper that if you add four additional value-added services totaling over 30,000 KRW for number portability, you could purchase the Galaxy S24 for as low as 80,000 KRW. Reducing the number of value-added services raised the price to the low 100,000 KRW range, and if you only changed the device without number portability, the price was in the 200,000 KRW range.

According to the DanTongBeop, the maximum device subsidy from the three mobile carriers is between 480,000 and 500,000 KRW, and dealerships and retail stores can provide an additional subsidy of up to 15% of this amount, which is up to 75,000 KRW. Without illegal subsidies, the maximum discount on the Galaxy S24, priced at 1,155,000 KRW, would be around 580,000 KRW.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Merchants expect that after the repeal of the DanTongBeop, prices could be formed more reasonably. For example, in the case of the Galaxy S24, a lower price could be set without having to add various value-added services or pay extra monthly fees.

On that day, Kang Do-hyun, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, visited Techno Mart. Lee Ki-hoon, who operates a retail store, said, "If competition is activated and reasonable prices are formed, consumers’ device replacement cycles will shorten, helping maintain the consumption ecosystem." He added, "Currently, selling devices cheaply in a situation where free competition is difficult makes you a lawbreaker. I hope that with the repeal of the DanTongBeop, free competition will improve the sales environment and consumer welfare."

However, some merchants predicted that there would be little impact. A store operator, Mr. A, said, "The device supply market is a two-horse race between Apple and Samsung Electronics, so there isn’t much competition. If the retail price doesn’t change, device prices won’t drop significantly."

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) decided to partially revise the enforcement decree of the Device Distribution Act under the pretext of activating market competition even before the repeal of the DanTongBeop. According to the revision, mobile carriers can provide subsidies according to KCC notifications, considering the costs users must bear when switching numbers and the expected profits of mobile carriers. Previously, the KCC announced a draft notification allowing carriers to provide number portability switching subsidies up to 500,000 KRW in accordance with the revision.

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