How to Sell a Foldable Phone Priced Over 80,000 Yen? Samsung Taiwan and Local Carriers Collaborate

How to Sell a Foldable Phone Priced Over 80,000 Yen? Samsung Taiwan and Local Carriers Collaborate

Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930) subsidiary Samsung Taiwan has launched the pre-sale of the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8, and Z Flip8. These models offer incentives such as capacity upgrades, up to 30 months of interest-free installment payments, and trade-ins.

Taiwan's major telecom providers, including Chunghwa Telecom (2412), Far EasTone (4904), and Taiwan Mobile (3045), are also providing purchase assistance through 5G plan bundles. Far EasTone offers up to 6,000 yen off for trade-ins, intensifying market competition.

Samsung Taiwan's Mobile Communications Business Department General Manager Chen Qimeng revealed that the percentage of consumers choosing installment payments has increased from 15% to 18% in the past to the current 40%. The number of people using the Samsung Finance+ cardless installment service has also increased by 5 to 10 times.

This change shows that there is still demand for high-end smartphones, but consumers' ability to bear one-time payments has not increased in sync. With the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra priced from 65,900 yen and the top-tier 1TB version at 83,900 yen, the focus of market competition has shifted from specifications and pricing to how to break down the high price into monthly affordable payments.

Samsung is offering capacity upgrades and up to 30 months of interest-free installment payments with designated credit cards. Pre-orders of the designated 256GB version can enjoy capacity upgrade plans. Pre-ordering the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra 512GB version at Samsung Smart Store and pairing it with designated plans allows upgrading to 1TB.

Samsung Smart Store and Samsung Mall also offer up to 30 months of interest-free installment payments with designated bank credit cards. If the pre-ordered designated 256GB version does not choose capacity upgrade, some channels offer additional trade-in discounts. They also launched a designated upgrade plan that allows 50% off the original machine when the next-generation Z series is released.

However, capacity upgrades, trade-ins, and credit card rewards all have designated models, capacities, channels, and payment conditions. Some discounts cannot be used simultaneously, and consumers still need to calculate based on their actual purchase plan.

Samsung officially announced that the Z8 series will be officially launched on August 14. Pre-order users at Samsung Smart Store, Samsung Mall, and some telecom channels can pick up their phones from August 11 according to each channel's arrangement.

Chunghwa Telecom will open pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Fold8, and Z Flip8 from 12:00 PM on July 30 to 5:00 PM on August 13 at online stores. Paired with the designated "Exciting 5G" plan with a monthly payment of 999 yen or more, the trade-in price can be additionally discounted by 2,000 yen. Completing the pre-order of the designated new machine also offers up to 6,000 yen off the purchase price. For wearables and accessories, the Galaxy Watch9 and Watch Ultra2 offer up to 3,500 yen off, and the Galaxy Buds4 Pro offers up to 1,200 yen off.

The highlight of Chunghwa Telecom's plan is the combination of purchase discounts and trade-in additional discounts, but the actual discount amount still depends on the rate plan, contract period, phone capacity, and condition of the old machine.

Far EasTone will open pre-orders from 12:00 PM on July 30 to 11:59 PM on August 13. Paired with designated 5G plans, the special price for the three new machines starts from 0 yen. For capacity, the 256GB version can be upgraded to 512GB by adding 3,000 yen, saving 3,000 yen compared to the price difference between the two capacities. In addition, Far EasTone's trade-in offers up to an additional 6,000 yen off, VIP contract renewal offers up to 5,000 yen off, purchasing wearables and accessories offers up to 10,000 yen off, and additionally draws 100,000 yen travel gold.

Compared to other companies, Far EasTone concentrates its discounts on trade-ins, VIP contract renewals, and peripheral device purchases, attempting to simultaneously increase the contract renewal rate of flagship phones and the sales of Galaxy ecosystem products.

Taiwan Mobile also opened reservations from 12:00 PM on July 30, paired with designated 5G rates, with a special price starting from 0 yen. Existing users who renew and upgrade to designated 5G plans can get up to 3,000 yen off, and VIP contract renewals can get up to 5,000 yen off.

During the reservation period, consumers can upgrade the 256GB version to 512GB by adding 3,000 yen, saving 3,000 yen compared to the original capacity difference. Taiwan Mobile also draws a 40-inch ViewFinity S8 display, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 and Watch9 can enjoy a 10% discount when purchasing, and a 45W retractable line power adapter is given when reaching the designated amount.

Taiwan Mobile's strategy is more focused on existing numbers upgrading to 5G and VIP contract renewals, using rate upgrades to obtain phone subsidies, thereby extending the contract relationship of high-contribution users.

The pre-order contents of the three major telecom providers include free use of Google AI Pro for six months, 5TB of cloud space, and drawing Korean round-trip air tickets or up to 10,000 yen of EasyCard top-up after completing designated tasks in Samsung Wallet, which are mainly Samsung's common activities.

Therefore, when comparing the plans of the three telecom providers, the real differences are in the phone subsidies, trade-in additional discounts, VIP contract renewal discounts, and wearables and accessories discounts, and it is not advisable to regard the common gifts from the original manufacturer as exclusive feedback from each operator.

Although the three major telecom providers all promote "0 yen purchase" for designated plans, the 0 yen project requires pairing with specific monthly rates and contract periods and does not mean free acquisition of the phone. Consumers need to compare not only the phone special price but also the total monthly rate during the contract period, prepaid amount, contract time, and conditions for trade-ins.

When the price of high-end foldable phones exceeds 80,000 yen, brands and telecom operators can no longer rely solely on hardware specifications to promote phone upgrades. Capacity upgrades allow consumers to feel the value of pre-orders, and installment and 0 yen projects reduce short-term payment pressure. Trade-ins further lower the actual purchase cost. Whether Samsung can increase the share of foldable phones in its own phone sales from the current approximately 6% to 15% depends not only on the attractiveness of the three new machines but also on the sales mechanism jointly composed of brands, financial services, and telecom rates.