[ksec]

I continue to wonder why they don't have or push iPhone as a Services ( The iPhone Upgrade Programme ) and continue to rely on mostly Carriers for Financing.

By offering iPhone up to a 4 years terms and bundled with AppleCare+ Thief and Loss and iCloud Backup. With Optional Apple Music, Apple News Magazine, Apple TV and Apple Game. All paid via an Apple Branded Credit Card within Apple Pay backed by Goldman Sachs.

You could have the iPhone Services starting at ~$35/Month even for an iPhone XS Max. If you add up all the other "Services" pack. That is roughly $75/month for the Full Apple Experience.

~$40 to even $100 a month is affordable to a lot of people. And my guess this could be part of the reason why Apple has been pushing the prices of iPhone.

There is another advantage to Apple, this strategy requires huge cash flow and can not be easily copied by its competitor. Apple would be effectively trading its immediate return of cash from selling product for long term customer lock in.

[pmalynin]

Huh, I dont know where you are, but here in the States I got my iPhone through 0% financing (amortized over 2 years) program that allows you to get a new phone every year and comes bundled with AppleCare+

[ksec]

The iPhone upgrade Programme which I presume is what you are referring to are not popular outside US, and Apple barely advertise about it. ( Which is why I said push in the original sentence ) And it is only available in selected countries and under some condition.

[toyg]

I evaluated it here in UK and it just didn't make sense for me. It was very expensive -- slightly less than buying a phone every year, but much more than doing it every two-three years.

[BillinghamJ]

The iPhone Upgrade Program is exactly the same price over the full course of the loan as just buying the phone with AppleCare. If you don't want the AppleCare, "iPhone Payments" is exactly the same price overall as just buying the iPhone. Both are 0% financing.

[lotsofpulp]

In the US, it’s the same price to buy at one time versus pay over 24 months, assuming you get AppleCare warranty.

[derefr]

Not only is Apple not doing this, but even much more services-focused companies aren't doing it, either. Why doesn't Amazon have a version of Kindle Unlimited where you get a free Kindle (with automatic replacement after depreciation, and required return if/when you unsubscribe)? (Maybe even bundle that into a higher tier of Amazon Prime.) Why doesn't Google's Stadia subscription come with free Chromecasts and a "Google Play Unlimited" access to games? Etc.

[Sendotsh]

That's exactly what they do on the Australian apple site:

https://www.apple.com/au/iphone/

> Get iPhone XR from A$849 when you trade in your iPhone 7 Plus.*

> Now you can get 0% interest for 24 months on iPhone XR when you trade in your current iPhone at an Apple Retail Store. Monthly payments required.

It's the first thing you see on the page, even on mobile, before you when see a picture or any details about the phones themselves. It's also pushed very heavily throughout the entire site as you browse.

[nradov]

They could even bundle in a MacBook, iPad, and watch at a higher price tier so that the hard core Apple fans could pay a single monthly subscription fee and always have the latest model of every device.

[Tecuane]

This sort of thing could not appeal to me any more, honestly. I've been trying to work out the most cost-efficient way of doing exactly this.

Of course, I am aware that _the_ most cost-efficient way is to accept that having the brand new and shiny every year is - for the most part - utterly pointless, but hey.

[stringgames]

I wonder if a subscription fee for hardware would appeal to businesses.

[shimms]

If they have to buy a laptop anyway, spreading the cost over the life of the equipment turns a capital expense on the balance sheet into an operating expense on the P/L statement, and can have some pretty nice tax benefits (jurisdiction dependent of course).

Often plant and equipment is financed this way - photocopier for example are seldom purchased outright, and come bundled with service, support and consumables.

[ac29]

Many major PC manufacturers already offer leasing, which could effectively be thought of as a subscription: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/learn/dell-business-lease

[dillondoyle]

I wonder what the depreciation tax differences would be? For us we buy hardware in the 'on' years (our business runs in 2 year cycles)

[Bekwnn]

I'd imagine so, given that's what hosting services like AWS are (along with the related software).

[hiei]

Doubt it - most businesses barely want to shell 5-10$/mo for a single user license of software.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Yeah, but they're already paying for hardware.

[megaremote]

It does. We lease all our laptops.

[kristianc]

> Apple Music, Apple News Magazine, Apple TV and Apple Game

This is where I get slightly lost with this strategy. There doesn't seem to be a discernable advantage to me as a consumer bundling all of these together versus the amount of lock in.

Something like iMessage is unique to iOS and a big benefit - music, news, TV I can get at least as good elsewhere often for less.

[ksec]

>There doesn't seem to be a discernable advantage to me as a consumer bundling all of these together versus the amount of lock in.

Branding. Spotify had a hard time getting people to streaming, and Apple Music helped pushed the world into Music Streaming Services. So together they have grown the Music Streaming Market by ~5 times since launch.

People don't want the hassle and they want to have access to content. So instead of looking for 5 different package and doing comparison, they decide to let Apple do the job for them.

Considering how much utter crap Apple Music was when launched and still getting some much needed improvement today, the quality of services might not weight as much as ease of access to majority of the iPhone user.

[Shivetya]

considering the fight to break Apple from the App store this would be a politicians dream state. the current political climate is to demagogue any large corporation which does not bend to their will or more politely, contribute properly to the interest of the politicians and their supporters.

Any such program would instantly be set upon with demands for a low income version which in effect would be subsidized by those paying an elevate price. All the while the carriers and other phone makers would be off the hook and show no interest in following suit with similar programs

[AsyncAwait]

> the current political climate is to demagogue any large corporation which does not bend to their will or more politely, contribute properly to the interest of the politicians and their supporters.

Corporations have been exercising massive influence over politics worldwide, orchestrating & supporting coups, stealing natural resources, bribing, doctoring data etc. for centuries, but now there's like 3 newly elected congress people not taking PAC money and talking about this a tiny bit and suddenly we should feel bad for the poor multinationals?

Spare me.

[onetimemanytime]

AAPL has to report quarterly revenues, or 4 times a year. Time will come for what you said in due time. Apple is valued close to a $ trillion so growth must be in double digits or else.

Apple will look to replace with its own version, whatever is making money in its App store. Like Google did and is doing by keeping clicks to ads or Google services.

[DVassallo]

Apple makes $60B net profit/year, with $120B in book value (assets - liabilities). It doesn’t need any growth to justify its $900B value. All it needs to do to keep that value is to not shrink too much.