According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple Inc. is working on a subscription service for the iPhone and other hardware devices, a move that could make gadget ownership akin to paying a monthly app fee.
The service would be Apple’s boldest push towards automatically repeating sales yet, allowing users to subscribe to hardware instead of merely digital services for the first time. The proposal, however, is still in the works, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because the effort has yet to be revealed.
After Bloomberg published the news on Thursday, Apple shares surged to a session high, closing up 2.3 percent at $174.07. Despite the fact that the stock is still down 2% for the year, Apple has now had eight straight days of gains, the longest sequence since November.
Adopting hardware subscriptions, similar to an auto-leasing scheme, would be a significant business move for a corporation that has always sold gadgets outright, with some installments or carrier subsidies. It might help Apple generate more income and make spending thousands of dollars on new gadgets more bearable for users.
Apple’s Cupertino, California-based representative declined to comment on the firm’s plans.
The goal is to make purchasing an iPhone or iPad as simple as paying for monthly iCloud storage or an Apple Music subscription. Customers will be able to subscribe to hardware using the same Apple ID and App Store account they currently use to buy apps and subscribe to services. The monthly rate would not be the price of the equipment divided over 12 or 24 months, as it would be with an installment plan. Instead, it would be a yet-to-be-determined monthly cost based on the device selected by the user.
When new hardware is released, the business has proposed allowing participants to swap out their gadgets for new models. Once a year, it launches new versions of its major devices, such as the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Apple has been working on a membership program for some months, but the idea was recently shelved in favor of a faster launch of a “buy now, pay later” service. Despite this, the subscription service is still planned to begin around the end of 2022, although it might be pushed back to 2023 or scrapped entirely, according to the sources.
