The iPhone 17, set to be released on the 19th, is creating a storm during the pre-sale period. Analysts say the basic model is popular because it froze the price while boosting performance. Some say this follows the marketing strategy of the Galaxy S25, which Samsung Electronics released early this year and which set a record for sales. Samsung Electronics equipped the Galaxy S25 basic model with a high-end Qualcomm mobile application processor (AP) that had previously been included only in the Plus and Ultra models, while keeping the price the same as the previous model.
◇ iPhone 17 sparks a pre-sale boom
According to industry sources and JPMorgan on the 17th, delivery times for the iPhone 17 in major markets such as the United States, China, Germany and the United Kingdom are expected to be about a week longer than for its predecessor, the iPhone 16. On the 12th, on JD.com, China's largest online shopping platform, the iPhone 17 surpassed the first-day pre-order sales of the iPhone 16 within one minute of pre-orders opening. Kuo Ming-chi, a Taiwan TF International analyst, said, "The iPhone 17 generated initial demand in the first week of pre-orders that far outpaced its predecessor, the iPhone 16." According to the industry, Apple is said to have set its third-quarter production target for the iPhone 17 about 25% higher than the previous model.
The iPhone 17's pre-order boom is widely seen as driven by a strategy that boosted the basic model's performance while freezing the price. Apple applied a 120-hertz (Hz) refresh rate—previously offered only on the iPhone Pro and Pro Max models—to the iPhone 17 basic model and upgraded the storage from 128 gigabytes (GB) to 256 GB. Yet the price was frozen at $799, the same as the previous model. Some say this effectively lowered the price only for the basic model. The iPhone 16 basic model was priced at $799 for 128 GB and $899 for 256 GB. An industry official said, "Apple froze prices across all models, but for the basic model, the storage upgrade effectively amounts to a $100 price cut. Demand will concentrate on the basic model."
◇ Did it follow the Galaxy S25 marketing of boosting performance while freezing the price?
Some say Apple copied the Galaxy S25 marketing strategy of Samsung Electronics, which achieved record-breaking sales. In January, Samsung Electronics equipped all Galaxy S25 series models with Qualcomm APs but froze the launch prices at the same level as the previous models. Even though Qualcomm AP prices rose by about 25%, the increase was not reflected in the product launch prices. According to the industry, AP prices rose by about 70,000–80,000 won.
The most attention-grabbing model was the Galaxy S25 basic model. Up to the previous Galaxy S24, Samsung Electronics' in-house Exynos AP was installed, but by equipping the basic model with the Qualcomm AP that had only been in the Plus and Ultra models, it showed the highest sales growth rate. According to a provisional smartphone sales report issued by Hana Securities in May, the sales increase rate of the Galaxy S25 basic model over its predecessor during the four months after the Galaxy S25 launch was 13.5%, the highest among all models. It was followed by the Ultra model (9.6%) and the Plus model (8.9%). During the same period, total sales of the Galaxy S25 series were tallied at 16.42 million units, up 10.7% from the previous model (14.83 million units). According to the industry, the Galaxy S25 recorded sales of 22.7 million units in six months after launch, surpassing 20 million in the shortest time among the Galaxy S series.
◇ Global launch prices were frozen, but domestic launch prices rose
Apple froze prices across all models, but domestic launch prices rose. According to Apple Korea, the iPhone 17 Pro (256 GB) is 1.79 million won, up 90,000 won from the previous model (1.70 million won), and the iPhone 17 Pro Max (256 GB) is 1.99 million won, up 90,000 won from the previous model (1.90 million won). The iPhone 17 basic model (256 GB) has a domestic launch price of 1.29 million won, up 40,000 won from the previous model (1.25 million won), but compared with the previous model of the same capacity, the price actually fell. The iPhone 16 basic model (256 GB) had a domestic launch price of 1.40 million won.
Apple has not offered an official position on why the Korea launch price rose. An IT industry official said, "When Apple adjusts prices, it likely considered each country's exchange rate and changes in sales to decide the launch price."