The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Gets Sold Out Within Minutes of Pre-Orders in South Korea, Samsung and LG Slash Prices of Their Flagship Phones to Compete With The iPhone Frenzy
South Korea's largest telecommunications carriers, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, have begun accepting pre-orders for the new Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus on Monday. However, just minutes into receiving online and offline pre-orders, iPhones were sold out in as early as 5 minutes.
KT collected a total of 10,000 pre-orders within minutes of receiving applications online. The carrier had to close the queues 10 minutes later after 50,000 units were reserved, reports Yonhap News Monday.
"We're getting an amazing response. We expected to take at least 30 minutes to sell the first 50,000. There was notably a huge demand for the rose gold," an official from KT said.
SK Telecom also ended its pre-order applications early, but their exact figures weren't revealed. LG Uplus took pre-orders for the short period at 5 minutes only.
Before Apple rolls out the latest iPhones in South Korea later this month, Samsung Electronics C. and LG Electronics had already slashed the prices of their homebred smartphone devices. Specifically, the price for Samsung's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6, had dropped from $817 to $706.
iClarified reports Oct. 20 that LG's new V10 came with an introductory price of 799,700 won. It was unusual for the company to release a flagship model with an initial price below 800,000 won.
Korea JoongAng Daily writes Oct. 19 telecom carriers in South Korea have been preparing various marketing strategies to attract consumers ahead of the pre-order period for the iPhone.
SK Telecom announced that customers who avail of the iPhones for the first and second pre-order sessions will receive a gift voucher worth $17.68 for screen protection and full device covers.
LG Uplus is also giving out 20,000 won gift vouchers to the first 50,000 customers who pre-order and have their phones registered by Oct. 31.
KT will also allow existing subscribers to use their Olleh membership points up to avail of up to 50,000 won as a discount in getting the new iPhone.
