In Europe, we are not familiar with a term that in Mexico seems to be much more common than one might expect.
El Economista.- We are referring to the gray market, a line of distribution and sale of cell phones that comes from the English word grey market, and that, as it is easy to guess, has something to do with the black market.
The gray market, however, is not illegal. According to information published in El Economista, it is so called because legal products are sold through unofficial distributors. These distributors set the price tag as they see fit, usually cheaper than the manufacturers’ official prices (remember that a Samsung Galaxy S23 or S23 Ultra is not exactly cheap).
A situation that brands don’t like at all
The situation is reaching such a point that manufacturers like Motorola and ZTE have blocked phones purchased from this type of distributor. And now, Samsung is going to join them in response to the threat it sees in the gray market. In fact, the Koreans have stated the following to make it official:
At Samsung Mexico we are committed to safety and compliance with local regulations in each of the countries where we operate. From October 11 we will begin to block those smartphones that come from the gray market, and that have been activated from September 21, 2023 in Mexico. For users whose smartphones are blocked, we are offering a 30% discount coupon, which can be redeemed through our official website www.samsung.com/mx or in the Samsung Shop APP, available for Android devices. The discount code will be valid until December 31, 2023.
Samsung Mexico
“The sale of devices in the gray market has become a problem for Korean companies. According to the media, at least one out of every five Samsung devices purchased in Mexico are obtained from these unauthorized distributors. There are, for now, no official figures on how many phones will fall under this category,” Samsung announced in a press release.
TYT Newsroom
