‘KRW 700,000' subsidy at some branches
Illegal business is active again after suspension of bounty system
Mystery Shopper found 'one case a day'
3 mobile carriers strengthen self-purification acti
It has been confirmed that Samsung Electronics' latest foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip 3, is being sold for KRW 30,000 at some online stores, considered the 'Holy Land’. The original factory price of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 is KRW 1,254,000. In addition to the public subsidy, it was discovered that illegal subsidies were provided up to KRW 700,000.
On the 8th, the Galaxy Z Flip 3, which was released in August, can be purchased at a minimum of KRW 30,000 for a new customer subscribing to a KRW 90,000 rate plan after transferring the carrier according to the sales policy shared by some online mobile distribution channels on Kakao Talk.
The Galaxy S21, which was released earlier this year, went beyond being a free phone, and even included a payback deposit up to KRW 200,000 into a customer's account. At the beginning of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 launch, market turmoil similar to previous years did not occur, but experienced a shortage of stock. Excess and illegal subsidies disappeared for a considerable period of time when the three major mobile carriers doubled their rewards for reporting illegal practices for the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and conducted intensive monitoring.
The domestic distribution has stabilized with the increase in production of Samsung Electronics' foldable smartphones; however, it is analyzed that illegal business practices started to begin again as the operation of the 'reward for illegal conduct reporting on mobile phones (‘phone parazzi’ (paparazzi)), which had been one of the pillars of market management and supervision, discontinued. Some stores have even held a 'special event to commemorate the end of Phone Parazzi’
Although the Korea Communications Commission, Korea Association ICT Promotion (KAIT), and mobile carriers continue to monitor illegal practices in the distribution network using mystery shopper, the number of actual subscription is only one case per day per mobile service provider, and a total of 20 cases per week. It is still not enough to cover the national market situation even when phone parazzi, which unspecified users voluntarily participate, have disappeared.
The three mobile carriers plan to reorganize the market supervision, and strengthen self-purification activities online. It is argued that the financial resources that were previously invested as bounties for reporting should be put directly in supporting market self-regulation to prevent a regulatory vacuum.
An official from the Korea Communications Commission said, "We will request mobile carriers to come up with effective market stabilization measures such as online self-regulation and real subscription bonds. We will make sure that there is no gap in the market management and supervision.”
By Staff Reporter Jung-eun Park (jepark@etnews.com)