Same Model, Different Performance

Korean consumers lined up in front of the store to purchase the iPhone 7, which has been known to have lower performances than those released in other countries.
Korean consumers lined up in front of the store to purchase the iPhone 7, which has been known to have lower performances than those released in other countries.

 

There is a controversy that Apple’s latest iPhone 7 series that recently went on sale in Korea, shows a huger performance difference from those released in the U.S., China and Japan.

According to U.S.-based Cellular Insights, which conducted tests on information and communications technology (ICT), the recent overall results claimed that Qualcomm-powered iPhone 7 Plus had outperformed the Intel modems by 75 percent when the signal was at its weakest, and 30 percent overall. The Intel-based 7 Plus model did badly in tests compared to several other smartphones, including Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S7 Edge and LG Electronics’ G5.

Apple sells the Qualcomm-powered iPhone 7 through Verizon and Sprint in the U.S. as well as China and Japan. However, the company sells the iPhone 7 using the Intel chipset in other countries. It means that Korean consumers are buying the iPhone, which is underperformed by up to 75 percent, at the similar price. All of the previous iPhone 6S used Qualcomm's modem but Apple diversified its modem supply to Qualcomm and Intel in the iPhone 7 series.

By having more than one supplier, Apple has planned to force price competition and better meet demand. However, it caused the controversy over quality as a result. In addition, U.S. business magazine Fortune also released such report and said the shortcomings of the Intel-powered iPhone 7 are a serious issue to consumers. Previously, another ICT online news outlet GSMArena reported that its tests showed that 32GB iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models had slower storage performance than 128GB and 256GB models and the 64GB iPhone 6S.

However, in Korea, 36,987 mobile phone users switching carriers without changing their numbers when purchasing the iPhone 7 series in just one day on the 21st, the first day of the release, causing an excessive sales competition for the iPhone 7. As some consumers put up their pots on the online community websites that they bought the iPhone 7 with illegal paybacks worth 300,000 to 400,000 won (US$263 to 351), which exceeds the legal limit, concerns that the market is distorting is growing.

 

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