For Sprint, $1 per month iPhone is not as crazy as it sounds
The new iPhones hit stores tomorrow, and they have already started a new battle in the ongoing carrier price wars. Today Sprint fired back at T-Mobile US’ $5 per month iPhone offer by announcing a $1 per month offer of its own.
Customers who are willing to trade in an iPhone 6 will be able to get the 16 gigabyte iPhone 6s for $1 per month, plus the cost of Sprint service. Sprint is charging $5.77 per month for the 64 GB iPhone 6s and $10.53 for the 128 GB model. The iPhone 6s Plus will be $5 per month. All offers are require customers to trade in an iPhone 6, from any carrier, in a Sprint branded retail store.
Sprint may appear desperate to attract new subscribers, but the nation’s No. 4 carrier is actually in a good position to monetize all the used iPhones that will be coming its way. Sprint parent company SoftBank also owns Brightstar, the world’s largest vendor of used smartphones. Brightstar was founded by Marcelo Claure, now Sprint’s CEO.
“New and existing customers who trade in their current iPhone 6 can now get a device for only $1 per month, making it the best way to get the iPhone – and a yearly upgrade is included in this charge,” Claure said today. The yearly upgrade is part of Sprint’s iPhone Forever lease program, which allows customers to trade in their Sprint iPhones for new ones whenever Apple has a new release.
Sprint did not offer to buy customers out of existing smartphone payment plans. Equipment installment plans allow customers to buy their smartphones little by little, through monthly payments, and to upgrade after a certain number of payments are made. Customers who bring in an iPhone 6 that is not fully paid for may have to pay their current carrier before they can trade in the phone to activate Sprint’s offer.
Apple itself now offers an installment plan, with iPhone 6s payments ranging from $32.41 to $44.91 a month. Consumers who get their phones directly from Apple get an unlocked device and can choose any carrier.
