Back in 2022, we saw reports of Apple working on plans to make iPhones available via a subscription or lease, rather than the usual up front purchase. At the time, the initial Bloomberg report noted that it was always on shaky ground, liable to be delayed or outright cancelled. More recently, the news outlet reports that the latter has happened.
The report cites sources who claim that it’s part of a broader shift within the brand’s approach to payment services. It was overseen by the company’s Apple Pay group, which also shut down a “buy now, pay later” program earlier this year. Instead, the brand is now directing customers to third-party equivalents of such programs. Staffers working on the iPhone subscription have also been moved around the company to other projects.
When the idea was first conceived, the idea was to have consumers get access to the latest iPhone without having to buy any of them, in exchange for a greater amount of recurring revenue. This would also let Apple lock them into its own ecosystem.
Ultimately, the subscription and the “buy now, pay later”, program were shut down as those services would have meant it needed to follow the same regulations as credit card companies, at least in the US. It would also mean some competition with said country’s telco partners that rely on instalment programs to retain customers.
(Source: Bloomberg)
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