On July 16, Xiaomi and South Korea's two major operators, SK Telecom and Korea Telecom, cooperated to sell the Red Rice Note 5 in South Korea and officially entered the Korean mobile phone market.
It is understood that Red Rice Note 5 is the first millet device sold by local mobile operators in Korea. Previously, Xiaomi’s mobile phones could only be purchased in a few retailers or online stores in South Korea.
It is worth mentioning that the price of the Redmi Note5 mobile phone in South Korea is about 300,000 won, which is equivalent to 265 US dollars. However, SK Telecom and Korea Telecom provided subsidies through data packages, and the price after subsidies was about 100,000 won, or less than 100 dollars.
According to anonymous telecom industry stakeholders, "the price of Redmi Note 5 is very low compared to the original 400,000 won. This gives people a determination that Xiaomi has embraced the Korean market." In this regard, Samsung relations people said, "Chinese brand smartphones have high popularity in emerging markets, but the atmosphere in the Korean market is different, and Korean people prefer high-priced smartphones."
Some analysts believe that the official arrival of Xiaomi will make the competition in the Korean smartphone market more intense, and it is difficult to break through. It is reported that the Korean mobile phone market is known as the "cemetery market" of overseas brands. The main reason is that Samsung Electronics has a strong advantage in South Korea, and it is difficult for overseas brands to compete for share.
South Korea is the country with the highest penetration rate of smartphones in the world. It has two major mobile phone giants, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, so it is difficult for overseas mobile phone brands to compete for share in South Korea. According to the report, in the fourth quarter of last year, Samsung Electronics accounted for 55% of the Korean smartphone market; Apple received 28.3%, ranking second; another Korean mobile phone maker, LG Electronics, gained 15.7%, ranking third. In other words, these three companies account for almost 99% of the Korean smartphone market. The arrival of Xiaomi will make the competition in the Korean market even more intense.
Japanese smartphone information website blog of mobile quoted the Korean media ETNews report on June 25, pointing out that Xiaomi originally sold smartphone products in South Korea through agent G-mobi KOREA, and Xiaomi hopes to use telecom channels. Expanding sales in the Korean market, the goal is to achieve a 5% market share.
The report pointed out that the reason why Korean telecom operators decided to sell Xiaomi smartphones is mainly because of the rising popularity of Xiaomi in Korea and the rising demand for products in low-to-medium price in Korea, and because of the wide range of Redmi Note 5 in the world. The acclaimed, Korean telecom operators also selected the first product to be sold as Red Rice Note 5.
In the past two years, Xiaomi has continuously expanded its internationalization path and has successively entered Southeast Asia, India, Russia and other countries and regions. Market research firm Counterpoint Research previously released a report saying that Xiaomi maintains a leading position in the Indian market with a market share of 31% in the first quarter of 2018.
