Even Without AI Function…Telecom Three Companies “The Moment of iPhone”

■ Pre-booking for ‘iPhone 16’ on the 13th
Intense competition among the three major mobile carriers to attract customers
Differentiation with support for used devices and quick delivery
Capturing demand for self-purchased phones in the budget phone industry
Expectations for premium phone market recovery grow,

iPhone 16 series,
, ‘[Seoul Economy]’,
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, “The three major mobile carriers have officially entered the competition to win Apple’s iPhone customers. As Korea is included in the first wave of countries to release the new iPhone model for the first time, the three major carriers have started accepting pre-bookings for the iPhone 16 series starting from the 13th, offering same-day delivery and various services such as affiliate card benefits. Although there have been criticisms that the core of the iPhone 16 series, the artificial intelligence (AI) system ‘Apple Intelligence,’ will not provide a Korean version until as early as 2026, Apple seems to be targeting loyal Apple fans to turn around the stagnant premium smartphone market atmosphere.”
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, “According to the telecommunications industry on the 12th, the three major carriers are offering various pre-booking events ahead of the iPhone release on the 20th to differentiate themselves. SK Telecom will randomly select 2,000 customers who complete pre-bookings through their official online mall, T Direct Shop, by the end of the day and offer them a 50,000 won discount coupon for the iPhone 16 base and pro models. During the pre-booking period (13-19th), 10,000 people who complete reservations will receive ‘Morning Quick Service’ on the day of activation. They are also offering a used mobile phone trade-in service (100,000 won) for those who pre-book the iPhone. A SK Telecom official explained, “If you receive affiliate card benefits, you can get discounts of up to 710,000 won.” They will also host offline events at their Hongdae T Factory store on the day of activation.”
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, “KT will provide ‘Good Morning Quick Delivery’ service from 8 a.m. on the release date to 1,500 customers who pre-book through their official online mall, KT.com, and live in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon. They are also offering a 7% discount for those who choose a 5G rate plan and providing Apple genuine dual chargers to 500 customers who have activated iPhones more than 4 times with KT to secure loyalty.”
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, “LG Uplus is taking a strategy to differentiate themselves by offering the iPhone call recording AI service ‘Excio,’ which is scheduled to be released next month. They will be the second among the three major carriers to introduce an iPhone call-related service following SK Telecom’s ‘A.idot.’ They are also offering benefits such as a used mobile phone trade-in reward (200,000 won) and an immediate 40,000 won discount coupon to pre-booking customers.”
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, “The budget phone industry is focusing on customers who want to purchase iPhones through self-purchase options. U+ Mobile is launching a rate plan exclusively for self-purchased iPhones for the first time. Targeting the 20-30 age group, which are major purchasers of iPhones with high data consumption, they have increased data capacity compared to other rate plans. LG HelloVision is conducting a promotion for pre-registration of preinstalled and embedded SIM cards at their online mall, while KB Kookmin Bank’s budget phone, Livem, offers up to 130,000 won in benefits.”
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, ‘The aggressive pre-marketing strategies by the three major carriers are laying the groundwork for the revival of the somewhat stagnant premium smartphone market with the release of the iPhone 16 series. Despite criticisms of being an ‘AI phone without AI,’ the fact that the prices have not increased compared to the previous year and being included in the first wave of new product releases countries, are still seen as attractive factors to loyal iPhone customers. In particular, unlike the Samsung Galaxy series, which offers only high-end premium devices, Apple only sells high-priced premium devices, so there is a higher proportion of high-priced rate plans among iPhone customers, according to the telecommunications industry.”
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, ‘An industry official stated, “The longer iPhone customers stay loyal, the more they can expand their lineup of wireless products without changing their carrier.” Another industry official said, “Since there is an expected demand for the iPhone’s new flagship device, it is anticipated that the release will generate demand for device changes and number portability.”
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