The country’s top carriers are boycotting Samsung

Aug 31, 2015 08:32 GMT  ·  By

The relationship between carriers and device manufacturers has always been a complex one, as the former act as a bridge between producers and consumers.

Users usually turn to carriers when they need a full package, in order to get both a smartphone and a calling/text and data offer. While most working relations between phone makers and carriers are usually smooth, there are situations when things go wrong.

An interesting report coming out of Israeli Globes publication proves exactly this point. Apparently, there’s a war raging between the country’s top mobile operators and Korean tech giant Samsung.

Three of Israel’s main service providers, including CellCom Israel, Partner Communications and Pelephone Communications, which are the official Samsung device importers via Samsung Israel, are now refusing to purchase new products like the Galaxy Note5 directly from the manufacturer.

Samsung is not viewed with kind eyes by carriers

Still, that doesn’t mean that Israeli customers won’t be able to get a Galaxy Note5 from the three carriers. The companies are instead looking towards open market stores such as Bug, Dynamica and Hot Mobile, as well as unofficial importers in order to incorporate the new smartphones into their portfolio.

According to the report, the carriers have been engaged in a dispute with Samsung Israel for a few months now, but why exactly that is the case remains slightly unclear.

Apparently, mobile operators are unhappy with Samsung making promises and not sticking to them in the end.

The thing is that, even if Israeli carriers are small in a global context, Samsung applies the same sales incentives as with other carriers, including the behemoths of the US market like Verizon or AT&T.

We’re given an example related to the fix payout for selling Samsung devices, which was initially set at $12 / €11 million, a threshold that smaller carriers could pass. However, Samsung has recently upgraded this to up to $20 / €18 million, which is simply too much. Hence smaller carriers don’t really see any benefit from selling Samsung devices

Moreover, the Korean company has been increasing the price of its devices at a time when mobile carriers in Israel are doing everything in their power to try and encourage customers to upgrade to newer models.

So now, the Israeli carriers are actively boycotting Samsung in the country. For starters, they chose not to participate in the official release of the Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+, which means there were no exclusivity deals at the launch of the new devices.

However, the carriers will reportedly start buying the new models from Samsung later on, when the prices of the phabets will have dropped to more decent rates.