The butterfly effect of ‘destroying the off-season’ launched by Samsung Electronics, a game worth 400 billion won > News

The core of this event is Samsung Electronics’ ‘large-scale payback’ policy in the name of promoting domestic demand and coexistence. This event, with a total of 400 billion won worth of resources borne entirely by Samsung Electronics, will be held for 32 types of products, including the latest mobile devices such as the Galaxy S26 series, Z Fold 7, and Z Flip 7. When a consumer purchases a product through a telecommunication company agency or online shopping mall and submits supporting information to Samsung.com, he or she is refunded a fixed amount of digital Onnuri gift certificates for each model. This benefit can be applied in conjunction with existing publicly announced subsidies or optional contract discounts, resulting in the actual purchase price perceived by consumers being dramatically lower than the factory price.

The market's reaction, as revealed by the numbers, can be said to be explosive. During the four days from the 8th to the 11th, when Samsung Electronics' promotion began, the number of new mobile phone activations nationwide was 104,542, which is a 31.2% increase compared to the same period immediately before the event. In particular, over 33,000 activations were made on the first day of the event alone, achieving results that put the term “off-season” to shame. By telecommunication company, all three companies benefited evenly, with KT showing a high growth rate of more than 54%. This trend has become an unexpected savior for telecommunication companies that were having trouble attracting subscribers, creating a virtuous cycle that allows them to naturally secure subscribers while reducing the burden of marketing costs.

This event by Samsung Electronics is evaluated as not only increasing short-term sales, but also presenting a new sales model in the smartphone distribution ecosystem. In the past, telecommunication companies and dealers often competed excessively for subsidies, deteriorating profitability, but large-scale refund programs led by manufacturers have minimized the burden on the distribution network while providing tangible benefits to consumers. As awareness spreads among general consumers that they can purchase the latest devices at reasonable prices without having to visit complicated ‘holy places,’ smartphone purchasing patterns themselves are moving in a more transparent and reasonable direction. This is likely to be recorded as a success story of a new marketing strategy that is a win-win for manufacturers, telecommunications companies, and consumers.

Meanwhile, apart from this festival, Samsung Electronics is also accelerating a thorough revision of its strategy to maintain its global market share in the second half of the year. Through global strategy meetings, we are re-examining the technological capabilities of new foldable phones and are significantly strengthening hardware durability, especially being aware of the emergence of strong competitors such as Apple's foldable iPhone. The fact that screen wrinkles and durability were improved by applying Ultra Thin Glass (UTG), which is 30% thicker than before, to the wide fold model shows Samsung's will to gain a technological edge. Samsung plans to maintain its leadership in the upcoming competition in the second half of the year by combining software optimization with AI functions and premium hardware.