Phone financing rapidly replacing subsidized handsets

By | May 20, 2014

Scalper1 News

Wireless carriers are quickly convincing customers to switch from buying subsidized phones upfront to paying for them over time with monthly fees, a new survey shows. Nearly one-quarter of new phone buyers in the U.S. surveyed in March said they financed their phone instead of buying a subsidized phone, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners said. Last September, 15% of mobile phone buyers financed their phones. In December, the number crept up to 17%. But in March, it rose to 23%. CIRP Partner Mike Levin said the trend is clear. “It’s growing nicely,” he told IBD on Monday. “It seems reasonably conservative to say that between 25% to 50% of phones sold in the fourth quarter of 2014 will be financed.” The move to financed mobile phones started last March when T-Mobile US dropped service contracts and stopped selling subsidized phones, Levin said. Most phones sold through T-Mobile now are financed, CIRP… Scalper1 News

Scalper1 News