In recent years, the Americans did not have to immediately pay the full cost of iPhone due to contracts with wireless carriers offering discounts of around $ 500 per phone.
However, according to Asiareport, with the release of the more expensive Apple iPhone 6 may face uncertainty. Telecom operators are beginning to refuse customers in discounts, forcing them to pay the full cost of new devices.
In most cases, consumers pay for the purchase of the phone for some time, similar to the acquisition of a new car. Operators say they would be more profitable to cancel subsidies and allow consumers to buy new phones without advance payments.
This approach offers the Apple risks. iPhone are the most popular in the countries where carriers subsidize the purchase, mainly in the United States and Japan. Removal of subsidies will allow customers to experience the difference in the price of Apple devices and its competitors. Thus, the iPhone maker may feel increased pricing pressure from competitors who are already suffering.
"All of these devices for 600 or 650 dollars selling well is due to subsidies - said Carolina Milanesi, head of research directions Kantar Worldpanel. - Consumers are beginning to pay more attention to the price".
According to Milanesi, the new installment of the program should support the sale of less expensive smartphones on the Android operating system in the United States, as consumers will be interested in smartphones, which have similar characteristics with the iPhone, but cost half the price. According to the research firm IDC, the average selling price of the iPhone in the world this year will be $ 657, while the corresponding figure for the Android-based smartphones is $ 254.
It is expected that Apple will introduce a new iPhone with a screen diagonal of 4.7 inches and 5.5 on 9 September. In current models of iPhone screen size is 4 inches. Analysts predict that the price of a 5.5-inch iPhone can exceed the base price of the most expensive of the current model iPhone 5S, which is equal to $ 649, up to $ 100 dollars.
Four major telecom operator in the United States - AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. - Began to promote programs for the purchase by installment, but without subsidy last year. In the future, the companies intend to abandon the subsidy, which allows consumers to buy a new iPhone 5s for $ 199, that is less than a third of the price on the price, on the terms of a two-year contract. Analysts expect that telecom operators will present new programs when Apple presents a new iPhone.
The old system of Apple brought good results. In the United States and Japan, where carriers offer the most high subsidies for the purchase of iPhone, Apple's share of the smartphone market is over 40%, according to comScore, and MM Research Institute. At the same time, the share of the iPhone on the world market in the 2nd quarter, according to IDC, was 12%.
According to the subsidy program, the acquisition of the basic model of iPhone 5S consumer usually pays $ 200 immediately and then pay about 80 dollars a month to the regular service plan. Due to these monthly payments to operators reclaim the money spent on subsidy.
A new base program involves the payment of installments of $ 27 a month for two years with the purchase of the same number, which is approximately equal to its cost, plus $ 65 a month for a similar service. The buyer becomes the full owner of the phone after two years of payments and can use it on, paying only for telecommunications services.
In two years, customers benefit from the new proposals, usually end up paying more for operators.
First refused to grant T-Mobile, which last year also launched a program that enables users after a certain time to hand over your old phone to the new account. Other telecom operators United States now offer similar programs, but they have kept the option of traditional contract plans. At the end of June, about 44% of American subscribers AT&T, bought smartphones, use the program without subsidies.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company has already felt the removal of subsidies. For the quarter ended in June, according to the program with subsidies was sold less than 25% iPhone. "This figure is significantly different from the figure two years ago," - he said analysts in July.
According to Cook, installment allows customers to easily migrate to new phones, so the company is "very optimistic about the prospects for the transition of subscribers under this program to the new device."
Cancel 200-dollar payment may have a strong interest in consumer buying a new iPhone, as payments spread over several months. In addition, operators are offering customers who remain on the old contract and who would have to wait to buy a new phone, the ability to buy new models during the transition to installments.
"In the short term, consumers will attract the opportunity to immediately get a smartphone without any payment, - said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Capital. - However, in the long run, people may think about how much to pay each month".