Gotham-2-Selena
just when Apple-fans were about to regain consciousness from waking-up all-night awaiting for Official On-Line Store, ReSeller and telecommunication branches to begin selling iPhone 6 and Plus the evening of October 30 Thursday onto 31 Friday morning .. only two days or rather nights there-after : another shocking event wizzles throughout the Peninsula .

it began as the sun set over Korea, on a cloudy Saturday Weekend . rumours spread you only had to pay W200,000 for a brand-new shining iPhone 6 16GB . in essence the terms were :

  1. direct pick-up at a brick-and-motar store only (to hand you the cash-back)
  2. device color would be set at random if your desire color runs-out of stock,
  3. you had to sign-up NEW or migrate cellular carrier to LG U+
  4. subscribe to a two-year contract,
  5. use higher usage plan over W60,000 per Month for the first 6 Months,

 

this phenomenon dubbed as the “iPhone Boom” (loosely translated from Korean which use similar term for crisis) has happened before but never as soon as a new model was released 0o0 it had happened with preceding iPhone 5 as well as 5S, but few Months after local release .

  1. it happens with over-stocked lower capacity models such as 16GB,
  2. and planned to lure users to a new carrier – thus cannot simply change phones .
  3. and usually starts on a Weekend evening when government institutions are not monitoring .
  4. at minor websites or branches which can be found by extensive search, or by relaying link
  5. and last only that Weekend, perhaps to appear again the next, but not for long nor repeatedly

 

but in the case of iPhone 6 : it was LG carrier that instigated the whole boom, as they were only stepped-in on this model as their frequency was incompatible with earlier iPhones . thus the swift effort to lure new customers, ofcourse immediately there-after KT carrier, then SKT and Hello Mobile (new discount carrier) began alike to compete .

[ STEP 1 ] first you had to find which telecommunication branch was offering this, done by extensive search on discount coupon forums which became popular about a year ago, or by strolling around your neighborhood – could be quite a walk . this could not be announced, for as soon it did : their what-ever stock-pile they had would be sold swiftly, and prone to angry users who had bought earlier at full price filing complaint to authorities when business opens Monday .

[ STEP 2 ] then actually had to go there and sign-up in person, because the discount came in a form of on-the-spot pay-back .

 

[ TERMS ] the most common term was just above W200,000 cash payment up-front (on paper you buy for around W500,000 and they pay you back W300,000): for a 2 year contract NEW or migrating to either LG or Hello Mobile (new discount carrier) where you had to sign-up for the more expensive plan (including calls and date usage) above W60,000 per Month mandatory for at least the first 6 Months .

but as the night deepened : some reports of even below W100,000 payment and only three Month mandatory usage on higher-price plans !

 

 

it seems some sporadic branches sold even 64GB for extra price difference ! by then rumours began spreading the reason these branches were frantically selling 16GB this way : was because they could only receive more 64 and 128GB shipment if they did so . and by the looks how 16GB – a capacity too small for normal use, barely enough for two hard-core games – is selling like lollipops in contrast to a day before : some indepedent repair shops will begin to offer chip upgrade to boost capacity .

– during boom and crisis alike, Korea Tech BLog –

 

( Sunday 10am Update ) as many had witnessed people waiting in line in front of a local telecommunication branch in the wee hours of the the night .. by the next morning : “Apple iPhone 6 16GB at below W200,000” made nation-wide news head-lines – and it is big-news as it is a whopping W400,000 cheaper than those who had bought it only a day before -_- but it is still not a massive sale, considering original rumours spread through On-Line communities (where elders don’t “live” in) and you had to go the actual branch to subscribe – an inconvenience for those accustomed to doing everything On-Line nowadays . while telecommunications branches that sold earlier had closed iPhone 6 and selling other models as usual – but others are opening-up thus still going-on, but at the same limited terms stated above .

– by 11am it seems like a one-nighter, as KT and SKT have stopped perhaps due to claim complaint and only a few LGT and Hello Mobile still seem up for grabs, but not for long .. still die-hard iPhone fans speculate there may be a second boom, and even for 64GB if sales outlets get enough in-stock .

( Afternoon ) Korea Communications Standards Commission is told to have warned 4 major cellular carriers they will be held respsonsible for last night’s bonanza . but even if they will be penalty : it will be at least a Month away, when mentioned branches have sold all their stock and made enough money -_- and even if they have to pay, they will have enough stashed away with this guerilla-style blitzkrieg-attack marketing over-night //

by 2pm it was announced : those who had not yet received the actual device or awaiting activation on this irregular discount rush, will be cancelled .

 

( November 4 Tuesday Update ) iPhone 6 16GB bonanza made news head-lines again Monday, but this time not as an extravagant happening but how the authorities would deal against it, plus unfair practice seen from the view-point of those who had bought it full-price only a day ago on release day ..

Korea Communications Standards Commission held they will deal with this harshly, and early buyers before this as well as other branches implied to sue, and the branches that instigated this acted as if to retract contracts on those that have not yet got signed with their carrier – but this all could be just-for-show . as the contradictive news calmed down only a day after .. thus benign are memory of human beings

( First Week of December ) for-seen reason for the above all-out SALE is now obvious, as it is known the whole of Korean vendors are stuck with over-whelming unsold 16GB in-stock -_-