People who find themselves interested in availing of Sprint or T-Mobile’s iPhone leasing plans may be disappointed to know that these two carriers have quietly revised their rates.
iPhone Forever, Sprint's program that lets people rent an iPhone and exchange it for the latest version of the device every two years at no additional fee, has now a larger monthly cost. From $22 each month (or $15 if you swap your phone), the price becomes $26.39 every month.
The Jump! On Demand plan of T-Mobile, in the meantime, has elevated its cost to $27 per month from $20 (or $15 for those who trade in their phones).
Right after the unveiling of the most current iPhones in September last year, the price wars between the two carriers went as far as offering $1 and $5 plans.
For a short period of time, T-Mobile customers could lease an iPhone 6s for only $5 each month when they handed over an iPhone 6. Sprint, meanwhile, threw in a more gratifying deal. For just $1 monthly, customers would be able to get hold of the newest iPhone (but, of course, they had to trade in an iPhone 6).
The happy days seem to have come to an end. Jan Dawson, analyst at Jackdaw Research, is convinced that the explanation for the dramatic increase of the iPhone lease price is all about the carriers not being able to afford it anymore.
“[B]oth companies had a lot of short-term promotions in place to leverage new iPhone sales to drive customer acquisitions ... [but] they can’t afford to massively subsidize them indefinitely,” Dawson says.
Meanwhile, Roger Entner, founder of the Recon Analytics, says that at $26.39 every month for 12 months, one could already purchase the device and resell it for $300.
Entner says that at the 13-month point, consumers are "definitely at the break-even price." To make matters worse, with T-Mobile's plan, for instance, customers are not allowed to unlock a rented iPhone right up until they finish the 18-month contract.
Earlier this month, we reported that the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and LG G3 have been added to the Sprint lease plans.
