“In the eight years since the first iPhone launched, no company has done more than Apple to change the dynamic and balance of power in the mobile industry,” Dan Frommer writes for Quartz.
“Apple’s latest move is called the iPhone Upgrade Program,” Frommer writes. “Following the lead of US mobile operators, Apple will sell its new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus on a monthly installment plan, starting at $32 per month, with annual upgrades to the latest model. Apple’s program isn’t as cheap as similar offers from some carriers (it also includes Apple’s extended warranty plan and phones are sold unlocked). But it does something more important: It converts its users from ‘carrier customers’ to ‘Apple customers.'”
Frommer writes, “By selling unlocked phones directly, Apple stands to potentially increase its customer loyalty—and marginalize the value of carriers, pushing them further into ‘dumb pipe’ classification.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yup.
Here’s to churn and the frenzied competition it creates! Lower wireless data prices benefit everyone but the dumb pipes. – MacDailyNews Take, September 10, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Apple takes aim at the carriers with annual iPhone Upgrade Program – September 10, 2015
How Apple’s annual iPhone Upgrade Program works and how much it costs – September 9, 2015
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “BD” for the heads up.]