Apple has announced it won't reveal first weekend sales of its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, but that doesn't mean sales are down. T-Mobile and Sprint have confirmed the new iPhones are the most successful smartphones both have ever launched.
After months of rumors revealed what Apple had in store for its next-gen iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, there was one huge feature Tim Cook left out of his presentation that is proving to be something everyone wanted and something wireless carriers were quick to jump on, a free iPhone 7.
A few years ago, the idea of a free iPhone usually meant a smartphone that was at least two generations behind the latest and greatest iPhone, and it also came tied with a two-year contract with a wireless carrier.
As it became clear that iPhone sales were on a decline year over year, it was time for Apple to enlist wireless carriers to come up with a novel way to increase sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Shortly after Cook's keynote, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile went to work and all announced free iPhone 7 deals, which require customers to trade in a qualifying iPhone and agree to a two-year commitment that credits the wireless account each month for 24 months to equal the price of a 32 GB iPhone 7. Consumers were left wondering if these new free iPhone 7 offers were too good to be true.
While consumers will have to judge for themselves if it's worth trading in last year's iPhone 6s and essentially signing a two-year contract with a wireless carrier to get a shiny new iPhone 7, carriers are already boasting that Apple's latest iPhones are breaking records in terms of sales.
"iPhone 7 is the biggest pre-order in T-Mobile's history, and that says a lot about our momentum and the excitement customers have for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus!" said John Legere, T-Mobile's president and CEO. "Q3 was already off to an incredible start, and when you add a kick-ass phone to T-Mobile ONE and top it off with the nation's fastest LTE network, Americans can clearly see that it's the best time ever to switch to the Un-carrier!"
Sprint has also announced that it has seen incredible demand for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and claims that preorders for the new iPhones are up more than 375 percent in the first three days over last year's iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon issued less over-the-top statements, with AT&T stating iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus sales are "better-than-expected" and Verizon reporting "business as usual."
Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell how many of the record sales numbers were based upon consumers availing themselves of the "free iPhone 7" offers as opposed to genuine direct sales of the devices. Those numbers would provide a better sense of the appeal of Apple's latest iPhones outside of the promotions intended to boost reported sales.
