Apple Abandons Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscriptions [Report]

Apple has abandoned work on an iPhone hardware subscription service, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The company allegedly had a project in development that would make owning an iPhone similar to subscribing to an app. Consumers would pay monthly fees and get a new smartphone each year. Sources claim that Apple recently wound down the effort, disbanding the team and reassigning them to other projects.

Like the now-defunct Apple Pay Later program, the hardware subscription would use an in-house financial infrastructure and be based on loans provided by the company itself. Early this year, Apple deployed the iPhone subscription service as a test for employees within its Pay group. Teams working on App Store billing and the online store were also involved. The service would have competed with — and likely upset — Apple's wireless carrier partners, which increasingly rely on installment programs and promotions to sell iPhones and retain customers.


While Apple could explore new partnerships to revive the iPhone subscription program, it reportedly has no current plans to launch the initiative on its own.

More details in the full report linked below...

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