The hardware subscription service will take Apple’s push of subscription services to a new level.
Apple has not abandoned its plans to sell the iPhone as a subscription service after repeated internal delays. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported over the weekend that Cupertino is still working on offering iPhones as part of a hardware subscription service despite facing several “engineering and technical setbacks” that have delayed the service.
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The tech giant has been working on developing a subscription service for the iPhone and other hardware for months. In fact, the original plan was to launch the service on the iPhone 13 or iPhone 14 but the plan never came to fruition. Gurman said that Apple continues to work on a new subscription service, which will eventually be released to consumers.
Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple has strengthened its subscription services. Over the past few years, Apple has expanded its services to broaden the appeal of its products. Many of the subscriptions like Apple Arcade and Apple Music are bundled with the company’s Apple One plan.
The hardware subscription service will take Apple’s push of subscription services to a new level. According to a Bloomberg report, Apple wants to subsidize the cost of hardware to make it more attractive to consumers. To do that, the monthly payment is not really the price of the iPhone divided by 12 or 24 months. Gurman said that Apple has not yet decided on the monthly cost of ownership of the hardware, which could mean that the cost will vary depending on the price of the hardware. In the US, Apple already offers the iPhone Upgrade Program but the upcoming hardware subscription service will work differently.
Smartphone prices have gradually increased due to the higher cost of components, making it difficult for consumers to pay for them. Worldwide phone shipments fell 18 percent from last year, according to Internal Data Corporation (IDC). Apple, too, is witnessing a slowdown in iPhone sales. iPhone sales fell in the fiscal first quarter, down 8.1 percent to $65.8 billion as the company experienced its slowest revenue growth since 2016.
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