Samsung is going to pilot its own version of leasing program for its latest flagship smartphones — the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge — through its stores in South Korea.
A report from ZDNet says that the program will kick off in time with the release of these new phones on March 11.
In September last year, speculation was rife suggesting that Samsung would follow the footsteps of its strong competitor Apple in launching its own leasing program.
With the iPhone's upgrade program, customers are able to lease the 16 GB variant of the iPhone 6s by shelling out $32 every month for 24 months. On top of that, the package features Apple Care+. After a year, however, the phone can be swapped for the latest model of iPhone and the lease payments start over again.
Very much like the leasing program of Apple, Samsung consumers who will avail of the leasing program can use the flagship phones for 12 months then they can already upgrade their phones to the newest iteration of the Galaxy phone. While they sign a 24-month leasing plan, they can still trade in their phones to the latest model after 12 months.
The program will only be offered through the company's Samsung Digital Plaza, the company's physical stores in South Korea, when these phones begin to hit the store shelves.
The leasing plan can only be activated with these South Korea's mobile carriers: KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus. Users will also have to apply for their own Samsung credit cards. Upon approval, they can already lease the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge paying 24 monthly installments with no interest.
Preorders for these newest Galaxy phones commence on March 4, via telcos, in South Korea.
While these new Samsung phones are slated to be released on March 11 worldwide, a few T-Mobile customers will not have to have to wait that long. Tech Times has reported that the carrier has already begun emailing shipping notices to consumers who preordered, with a few of them scheduled to receive the hotly awaited devices as early as Feb. 29.
Samsung has yet to announce whether it has plans in bringing its leasing program in other parts of the globe. Perhaps, the rolling out of this program in South Korea is only a test run. If this turns out to be a success, there is a big chance we might also see the same thing in other regions of the world.
