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To me it's not about buying something you can't afford. You aren't getting underwater with these phone leases. Just think of it as part of your phone bill.

I certainly do get that, it would be really interesting to see some socio-economical data on how's buying a phone vs. who's simply renting it through these plans. It's part of your plan but you never own that device, you cannot simply sell it and use that money when needed, that's one problem IMHO.
 
But I thought all the wizards of smart kept telling us iPhone sales were going to crash when U.S. carriers got rid of "subsidies". The fact is they weren't ever "subsidies", you were just paying off the phone overtime which doesn't appear to be changing. Is there really that much difference between so-called "subsidies" and an installment plan?

Nope. Though I'd be interested to see the price difference. All the companies did was pull the subsidy amount out of the monthly bill and turn it into installment payments. Which is what they should have done from the beginning. They probably didn't because of customer ignorance. But you're right. There were never really subsidies. Just a different way of paying off the phone. Except that with 'subsidies,' if you never got a new phone, you just kept paying for your old one forever...
 
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Thanks, Sprint! Now T-Mobile will probably announce that their $15/month lease will apply not only for the iPhone 6s, but for every iPhone released in the future (or at least not the full $27/month) :p

Lol, I sure hope this is true. Makes the Jump of Demand even sweeter!!
 
.....or I like to get each iteration of iPhones and "leasing" makes way more sense and plus I don't have to deal with the hassle of trying to sell it.

Way more sense to some people maybe, it definitely doesn't make more sense to everyone. It's still leasing, no quotation marks needed, you will simply never own the product, which means it cannot be used as an asset when needed, that's the thing. Of course, leasing has its benefits, which I don't doubt at all, however it's becoming more common with ordinary goods such as phones or tablets getting possibly more people into debt. It's definitely a much more complex problem rather than simply seeing its benefits.
 
As someone who has watched the Sprint network buildout over the last 18 months I'd say their network is exponentially better than it was. For example, I've done extensive travel over the last year over the upper midwest and the large cities such as Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago all seemed to have LTE be widely available. It's only in northern remote areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin where it's hard to find a tower. I understand they are still building out their network but it's definitely better in the cities. Recently I did a speedtest and was shocked at getting 77 megabit download speeds from a Sprint tower near me.
 
Thanks Sprint this sounds great and unlike others I have great service in my area. Also just returned from Canada and loved being able to use my iPhone there all week. Sprint gets a bad rap but they are hitting on everything I want right now!!
 
Sprint will get $180.00 for the phone from the original owner over the course of a year and then they'll take the phone back and sell it for probably double that amount, if not more, if the phone is in good shape. Then they'll repeat the cycle every year. They're just trying to up their revenue by keeping people hooked on their network for the yearly phone upgrades. Too bad giving someone a new iPhone every year won't fix all the issues with Sprint's network.
 
Too bad it's Sprint. Worst coverage ever in the Chicago area. No wonder T-Mobile surpassed them to become #3.

Maybe the coverage in your area but I find T-Mobile coverage to be much worse than Sprint. I had T-Mobile and switched to AT&T this year because I couldn't connect in about 20% of the areas. The people I know who had Sprint never had any connection problem although they complained about other problems (service, speed) :D. T-Mobile should stop with the gimmicks and instead spend their money building lots of new towers (not just upgrading the towers they have).
 
Nope. Though I'd be interested to see the price difference. All the companies did was pull the subsidy amount out of the monthly bill and turn it into installment payments. Which is what they should have done from the beginning. They probably didn't because of customer ignorance. But you're right. There were never really subsidies. Just a different way of paying off the phone. Except that with 'subsidies,' if you never got a new phone, you just kept paying for your old one forever...
Exactly. Now once the phone is paid off you're no longer paying that fee. Go to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile or Sprint and you ou either see installment plan figures or $0 down figures. You can filter to get the full price but it's not the first thing you're shown. I think installment plans benefit Apple because seeing iPhone $4/mo more than a flagship Android competitor isn't going to be a big deal for many people. And those that truly are focused on price only probably were never considering a flagship iPhone in the first place. Samsung though I don't get. Their flagships are the same price or more expensive than iPhone yet we see very little tangible evidence that going "premium" has juiced sales. And they've taken away one differentiator (that they even ran anti-iPhone commercials about) they had: removable battery. All because sites like The Verge knocked them because their phones were plastic and not "premium" aluminum or glass. I don't get it.
 
I certainly do get that, it would be really interesting to see some socio-economical data on how's buying a phone vs. who's simply renting it through these plans. It's part of your plan but you never own that device, you cannot simply sell it and use that money when needed, that's one problem IMHO.


Good point. But you can only sell at a loss of you did need to sell and use the money and I can't say I've ever heard of wise investor investing in sinking assets.
 
This can be very dangerous, more and more borrowing for goods and services, which aren't an investment or aren't making any money. What happened to the old "I buy it when I have spare cash to do so" attitude?
First, it's a relatively small cost - the real cost is in the monthly payments for the service.

Second, there are plenty of people who make money with it every day, or at least use it as an integral part of their business or as personal organization tool.
 
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I paid ≈$600+VAT cash for my iPhone and that means I need to own it for 40 months before I get down to $15/month.. Or ≈30 months if I manage to get $200 back for it. Neither will happen in the real world :)

Conclusion: That deal for $15/month is a steal. :D
 
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Good point. But you can only sell at a loss of you did need to sell and use the money and I can't say I've ever heard of wise investor investing in sinking assets.

You will sell it at loss for sure, well most likely, because of the depreciation.

First, it's a relatively small cost - the real cost is in the monthly payments for the service.

Second, there are plenty of people who make money with it every day, or at least use it as an integral part of their business or as personal organization tool.

It is a small cost for sure, for most people, I'm more looking at the larger picture of this happening across more consumer goods and services where people prefer to rent rather than own.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it and I think it's a great business move but it's an interesting economical concept, which definitely has negatives as well as positives.
 
These have all been T-Mobile's ideas.

But in this case, I'm glad other carriers are implementing their ideas. It's just the right thing to do.

T-Mo's all about changing the game, and it's working out pretty well for them.
 
You will sell it at loss for sure, well most likely, because of the depreciation.



It is a small cost for sure, for most people, I'm more looking at the larger picture of this happening across more consumer goods and services where people prefer to rent rather than own.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it and I think it's a great business move but it's an interesting economical concept, which definitely has negatives as well as positives.
Yes, I think it can be a concern as a trend, but I don't see this as a problem overall. But eventually the discounts go away and one might still be better off buying.
 
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Sprint is on the hook for a lot of iPhones because of their contract with Apple. This "deal" makes sense - otherwise they could be eating plenty of units anyway. At least that was my understanding.

Someone, I am sure, bean counted and realized that it's better than taking a full loss on iPhones not sold.

And no - this post isn't a negative about Apple, its sales or profits. It's about Sprint being over their head (last I read) in trying to fulfill its contract with Apple.
 
As someone who has watched the Sprint network buildout over the last 18 months I'd say their network is exponentially better than it was. For example, I've done extensive travel over the last year over the upper midwest and the large cities such as Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago all seemed to have LTE be widely available. It's only in northern remote areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin where it's hard to find a tower. I understand they are still building out their network but it's definitely better in the cities. Recently I did a speedtest and was shocked at getting 77 megabit download speeds from a Sprint tower near me.


If that speedtest wasn't rigged or faulty if be shocked
 
Absolutely, we can see a similar debate with Adobe and their forced subscription model - I guess we live in an age where renting will become more common in these areas. If it's a good thing, not owning a product, I'm not that sure yet.

Sometimes it feels like everything we buy (except maybe food) is renting. All the fancy houses and cars and phones are things that we pay to use for a limited amount of time. That time ends when we sell it or throw it away or when we die. Nothing is ours forever, even if we pay full price. Maybe I'm just pessimistic.
 
iPhone will be never be yours*

Welcome to more debit, buy the thing you cannot afford.
You know, that just like T-Mo's Jump on Demand; This includes a purchase / buy out option, right? Moreover, compared to a carrier subsidy the savings are literally real with the buyout option. "Owning" a phone has its own problem(s), notably, many change their mind and decide that either their phone is crap or a different phone is better or has an advantage they want, but they're locked into 2 years of service or making payments.
 
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According to their website you can, albeit the monthly lease fee will be higher depending on storage size.

I'll blame the misunderstanding on their wording then lol


That makes sense fees will be higher since the value/cost of the 6+ line is proportionally greater over the 6
 
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