Apple’s iphone 5 sales continue to disappoint in Korea. As reported by beSUCCESS, Jan 7th, sales of the new device currently lie at 50% of was expected at 500k units, with Samsung’s Galaxy S III trouncing the American brand as the most popular smart phone so far.
Now reports have surfaced that the 16Gb version of the iphone is available for as little as 110,000 won (about $100) as opposed to the RRP of 814,000 won, from both KT Telecom and SK Telecom.
Decline in 2012 Q4 sales has led to turbulence in Apple shares
However, any subsidizing by carriers will not be the result of a request from Apple, which has not supported price reductions on its latest products previously, as it would negatively impact its executive stature in the market, through price premium. Last year Korean carriers were penalized for over-subsidizing handsets to attract customers in the incredibly fierce market in Korea, where 60% of the population own a smart phone. SK Telecom has sought to distance itself from the price reductions, claiming that individual stores have acted alone, according to a spokesman from the Korean carrier, but it is a worrying sign for Apple nonetheless.
The low numbers of iphone 5 sales have not been officially verified, but have been mirrored in a recent Strategy Analytics’ forecast, which predicts 290 million smartphones sold by Samsung in 2013, compared to 180 million sales of Apple phones. This outlook has also been confirmed by Apple’s announcements regarding a possible 50% reduction in orders of their screens. In response their shares briefly fell below $500 for the first time in the last 12 months.
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