BLOOMBERG: Struggling phone service providers try almost giving away iPhones to add subscribers.
BLOOMBERG: Struggling phone service providers try almost giving away iPhones to add subscribers.
Starting Friday, Sprint stores will kick off iPhone 6S sales with lease offers that start at $1 a month. The limited-time promotion requires customers to trade in their iPhone 6 phones and doesn’t include the cost of service plans. The offer beats T-Mobile US Inc.’s $5-a-month iPhone lease, which until now had previously been the lowest-priced deal for consumers.
“It’s a desperate move,” says Roger Entner, an analyst with Recon Analytics LLC. “You don’t make money on $1 device leasing.” Including the iPhone 6 trade-in value, Entner estimates that Sprint is losing $24 a month on each new $1 lease. That excludes revenue from monthly service charges.
