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An advertisement for 5G mobile data in front of SM Town/K-Pop Square in Seoul. (Yonhap News)

The quality of 5G mobile communications service remains poor a month after its commercial launch. The failure to move 5G smartphone units has led to the Galaxy S10 5G – South Korea’s first 5G phone – being marked down from its factory price less than a month after its release. Meanwhile, no new launch date has been set for the LG Electronics 5G phone V50 ThinQ following its postponement two weeks ago.

According to accounts on May 3 from telecommunications and smartphone manufacturing companies, SKT and KT marked the factory price for the Galaxy S10 5G 512GB model down by 99,000 won from 1,556,500 won (US$1,336) to 1,457,500 won (US$1,252) as of May 1.

“Poor sales for the 512Gb model have led to an inventory burden for both the telecoms and the manufacturers,” an industry official explained.

The reduction of a mobile phone factory price less than a month after its launch is almost unheard of – suggesting that the inventory problems with the Galaxy S10 are severe enough to warrant it. Much of the issue has to do with consumers shunning the 5G smartphones, which are plagued by network quality issues despite the high price tag in excess of 1.5 million won (US$1,288). As of last month, South Korea’s three major telecoms had around 85,000 5G base stations set up nationwide, amounting to just 10% of the 832,000 stations for all LTE.

LG Electronics has yet to set a definite release date for the 5G V50 ThinQ, which was originally scheduled for launch on Apr. 19. While industry observers speculated that reservations might be opened on May 7 for a launch on May 10, sources with LG Electronics and the telecoms said the matter was “still under discussion” with “nothing decided,” adding that they were “also feeling frustrated.”

The V50 ThinQ’s launch was previously postponed due to controversy over 5G network quality. After holding discussions, LG Electronics and the telecoms made a decision on Apr. 16 to temporarily put off the release.

By Shin Da-eun and Park Tae-woo, staff reporters

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