The Galaxy S22 series by Samsung Electronics Co. is on display at a store in South Korea, in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — More than six out of 10 smartphone models running on fifth-generation (5G) networks turned out to be expensive, selling at prices of more than 1 million won (US$720), a consumer advocacy group said Thursday.
The Consumers Union of Korea surveyed the prices of 162 5G mobile device models selling through five websites that are official online sales outlets for major mobile phone vendors and telecom companies.
The survey showed that the average selling price of the models stood at 1.16 million won. Among tham, those costing more than 1 million won accounted for 61.1 percent of the total.
By vendor, Apple Inc.’s average selling price stood at 1.25 million won, higher than Samsung Electronics Co.’s 1.08 million won and Xiaomi Corp.’s 409,200 won. Xiaomi has only released low-price models in the Korean market.
For Samsung and Apple, the share of high-priced flagship smartphones stood at higher than 70 percent.
“Along with expensive 5G plans, high-priced 5G smartphones are deepening the telecom expense burden of households,” said Jeong Ji-yeon, secretary general of the Consumers Union of Korea.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
