The store price for Samsung Electronics’ “Galaxy S21” in South Korea has been set at $912 (999,000 KRW).
This is the first time that the price of the basic model of Samsung Electronics’ strategic smartphone is set below $913 (1 million KRW) since three years ago when the Galaxy S9 series was released. The price is about $183 (200,000 KRW) cheaper than the basic model of Galaxy S20 ($1,140 (1.248 million KRW)).
The prices of the Galaxy S21 Plus and the Galaxy S21 Ultra are set at $1,090 (1.199 million KRW) and $1,320 (1.45 million KRW) respectively that are little bit more than $91 (100,000 KRW) cheaper than the Galaxy S20 Plus ($1,230 (1.353 million KRW)) and the Galaxy S20 Ultra ($1,460 (1.595 million KRW)). The 512GB Galaxy S21 Ultra model will be released separately at a price of $1,460 (1.6 million KRW).
Samsung Electronics and three major South Korean mobile operators discussed on prices of the different Galaxy S21 models. They will make very small adjustments to the finalized prices and announce finalized prices according to the official release date of the Galaxy S21 series.
The fact that Samsung Electronics has decided to introduce its first-half strategic smartphone one month earlier than previous years and lowered the prices compared to previous models indicates that the company is planning on a winning move that stems from multilateral strategic moves.
Its plan is to increase sales by lowering financial burden for consumers and keep popularity of Apple’s first 5G smartphone “iPhone 12” in check.
It is reported that about 60% of the entire supply of the Galaxy S21 series has been set aside for the basic model. This is the result of Samsung Electronics’ belief that competition in smartphones with premium performance will not be same as before as performance of smartphones continues to be leveled upwards and that there has been significant sense of resistance from consumers towards continuous increase in smartphone prices.
In addition, the company plans to maximize benefits from the continuous sanctions imposed on Huawei from the United States Government and clearly establish its position in the global premium smartphone market at the same time.
“The fact that Samsung Electronics has lowered the prices of the Galaxy S21 series from the prices of the Galaxy S20 series indicates that the company is planning on significant changes to its smartphone strategies.” said one official from one of the three mobile operators. “It can also be seen that Samsung Electronics believes that its global leadership will be in danger if it continues to push for old strategies.”
In order to lower the prices, the basic model of the Galaxy S21 and the Galaxy S21 Plus will be applied with FHD+ displays. This display has lower performance than QHD+ display which was used for the Galaxy S20 series. Also, Samsung Electronics will not include a charger to the list of the Galaxy S21 series’ basic components.
Some people believe that no one will know how consumers will respond to the Galaxy S21 as some of the new Galaxy smartphone’s specifications have been downgraded and the new series excludes chargers despite a decline in the store prices.
Samsung Electronics will hold a “Galaxy Unpack 2021” online event at midnight on January 15 (Korea time) and receive preorders between January 15 and January 21 along with the three mobile operators.
Preordered Galaxy S21 smartphones will be activated between January 22 and January 28. The official release date of the Galaxy S21 series will be on January 29.
Staff Reporter Park, Jungeun | jepark@etnews.com