J
Jeff Causey
Guest
As wireless carriers move away from two-year contracts to subsidize smartphones, leases are becoming a popular option to help consumers avoid large cash layouts for outright purchases. Many carriers have been creating lease programs that incorporate some early upgrade features to help consumers get their new devices. Seeing all of the activity in this space, smartphone manufacturers are starting to introduce their own options to sell direct to consumers. Recent reports indicate Samsung is the latest to join this march.
Sources say Samsung is planning to announce a program in the next several months. However, they may want to accelerate those plans after Apple recently announced a leasing program for their newly released iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus devices.
Samsung’s pricing for such a program is uncertain at present. Unlike a company like Apple that has a limited portfolio of devices, Samsung tries to sell in many segments, sometimes with multiple devices. Samsung could limit the program to their high-end devices since those are the most challenging to sell.
The advent of manufacturer sourced financing plans may also put pressure on the manufacturers to produce devices that will work on any carrier’s network with nothing more than a sim card switch. Such a move would make sense as consumers will be less likely to want to be locked into a carrier if their lease payments are separate from their service payments.
source: Forbes
Come comment on this article: Samsung to offer phone lease, upgrade plans
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