“We’re essentially giving away the 'Galaxy S25' for free.”
On the afternoon of Jan. 30, at an electronics store in Guro District, Seoul, a salesperson at mobile carrier A noted, “If you pre-order the Galaxy S25 now, we will provide an additional support fund of 700,000 won excluding the public support fund,” adding, “Since the public support fund is low, at around 200,000 won, if you choose the '25% selective discount' (hereafter referred to as the 25% rate discount), you can essentially get it for free.” The salesperson then said, “However, you must subscribe to a plan of at least 100,000 won for six months, and the condition of switching to another carrier applies.”
Scheduled for domestic release on Feb. 4, Samsung Electronics' new smartphone, the 'Galaxy S25', is offering over 700,000 won in additional support funds (cash support in addition to the public support fund) at some mobile carrier retailers. When finding places crowded with people, it was often the case that they were distributing additional support funds.
◇ The 'Galaxy S25' for just 5,000 won
At mobile carrier A's store, I inquired about the Galaxy S25 (256GB) model while stating, “I’m currently on a plan in the 60,000 won range and am willing to switch carriers.” The salesperson then entered the number '5,000' into the calculator. When I asked what that meant, the staff member replied, “It means the actual purchase price of the Galaxy S25, which costs 1,155,000 won, is just 5,000 won.”
When subtracting the retailer's additional support fund of 730,000 won and the total amount of the 25% rate discount over two years (420,000 won) from the device's price, it turns out you are actually purchasing it for 5,000 won. If you maintain a subscription to the 100,000 won plan for six months and use a 60,000 won plan for the following 18 months, the total amount of the rate discount would be 420,000 won. If you use a plan in the 100,000 won range for two years, it would not be a free phone, but a minus phone (where the discount benefits exceed the retail price).
When inquiring about the Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra models, the response was that the additional support was the same at 730,000 won, and one simply needed to subtract the additional support and the total amount of the 25% rate discount from each retail price. Retailers nearby had similar prices. While the amount of additional support varied slightly depending on the carrier one switched to, the additional support for the Galaxy S25 series generally ranged from 650,000 to 730,000 won.
A staff member at mobile carrier B remarked, “It’s significant that the pre-order record is important for the manufacturer’s perspective to help the new product’s success, which is why the incentives for retailers (rebates) are concentrated. This pattern has been repeated every year during the pre-order reservation period for new product launches,” and noted, “The public support funds or the scale of additional support is at a similar level to last year (Galaxy S24).”
◇ Carriers set low public support funds… encourage high-rate plan subscriptions
One noteworthy point is that the public support funds listed by the three mobile carriers were not substantial. For plans in the 40,000 won range, the public support funds were limited to 60,000 to 80,000 won, and even for plans exceeding 100,000 won, the public support funds were only between 230,000 and 245,000 won at most. All of the staff members at the mobile carrier retailers I visited agreed that it would be better to take the 25% rate discount instead of the public support fund.
For example, a person on a 40,000 won plan would receive a maximum of 80,000 won if they choose the public support fund, but if they select the 25% rate discount (maintaining a 100,000 won plan for six months and then using a 40,000 won plan for 18 months), they could receive a total discount of 330,000 won over two years. This means they would gain about 250,000 won more by choosing the 25% discount.
A representative from the telecom industry noted, “When subscribing to a high-rate plan, companies tend to deliberately set lower public support funds by emphasizing the significant benefits of the 25% rate discount when a new product launches,” adding that it is a kind of sales tactic to lure consumers who wish to purchase new products into signing up for high-rate plans.
The Galaxy S25 is the first new product launched after the passage of the law abolishing the device subsidy, and it will be the last new product released before the law is abolished in July. However, compared to the launch of its predecessor (Galaxy S24), the public support funds have not increased at all. Last year, when the Galaxy S24 was launched, the maximum amount for public support was 240,000 won. The general impression when visiting ordinary mobile carrier retailers, apart from a few retailers known as pilgrimage sites for phones where additional support funds were being offered, was that “it’s still expensive.”