Apple’s plans to offer an iPhone subscription service are dead before they even started. According to Bloomberga Cupertino company has shelved a project that would have allowed users to pay a monthly subscription fee instead of upgrading their iPhones every year.
Apple first started making plans to change the way people buy phones in 2022. According to the company’s theory, Report from Bloomberg At the time, it was about moving cell phone ownership to a model more akin to leasing a car. Instead of selling the device outright or having monthly payments that can be repaid over multiple years, consumers pay a flat monthly fee for access to the device. When a new iPhone is released, subscribers can upgrade to the latest model.
The thinking behind this now-defunct idea was to connect more people to recurring payments and keep them locked into Apple’s ecosystem. For many consumers, the plans don’t change much in functionality, other than paying a simple monthly fee for the right to upgrade their devices. Of course, they won’t fully own the phone they’re using, but Most people are locked into a 2 or 3 year payment plan Either way, by the time the payment is complete, the device will have lost most of its value.
These long-term installment-based repayment plans are coupled with a distinct lack of compelling features in recent iPhone releases. caused a slowdown Among people upgrading their devices. Converting cell phone ownership to a subscription plan eliminates the downside for consumers to upgrade and allows new devices to hit store shelves. It would also move people who currently pay carriers for their devices into Apple’s shoes, likely angering some carrier executives.
However, the subscription concept ignores important details of the consumer experience. That means people want to keep their stuff. a YouGov survey According to a 2023 study, 7 in 10 Americans want to keep their cell phone for at least two years, and about 1 in 6 would keep their phone for more than 5 years if possible. That’s what I think. Found out in a Gallup survey More than half of the respondents He says he only upgrades his phone if it’s absolutely necessary because his current device no longer works or is outdated.
Now, that could change if Apple succeeds in upending the relationship between its devices and consumers. If it’s no longer a phone you own, but just a chunk of hardware you lease, you might want to try an upgrade if it costs the same price every month. But for now, iPhone ownership will continue as before. You’ll end up paying monthly fees to a carrier you hate until the phone is finally yours.
