Apple Partners With Klarna To Offer iPhones, Macs On a Subscription Basis (computerworld.com) 62
Apple is reportedly launching a Klarna financing deal that will let U.S. customers spread the cost of devices over up to three years, pushing the company closer to a hardware-as-a-service model. "The only thing you don't get under the new arrangement is AppleCare, for which you'll allegedly need to pay extra," notes Computerworld. From the report: The introduction of the scheme gives consumers a way to purchase the company's popular high-end devices when they are introduced -- no doubt,at higher cost -- this fall. [...] A combination of changed customer habits and external threat means the stars are now aligned for hardware-as-a-service models. "Reframing a device as a low monthly payment protects that [upgrade] cadence and allows Apple to start marketing their products as device-as-a-service to consumers, which no other vendor was ever able to do," [IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo] wrote to me.
There is a one-more-thing aspect to this: the products are effectively being leased, a new approach that will give Apple a stronger grip on EOL devices, helping it grab more of them for refurbishment, resale, and recycling. Over time, this will give the company a much stronger grip on the lucrative second-user market that exists around Apple equipment, even while for almost every consumer product we find the life we want is something we can rent, but probably can't afford to own.
The other solid reason to take a partnership approach is risk management. Apple had intended to develop its own buy-now, pay-later scheme via Apple Pay Later, but abandoned that plan as it became riskier with rising bank rates. "Also, by backing the program with Klarna rather than reviving the in-house subscription plan it shelved in 2024, Apple captures the demand upside without taking the credit risk onto its own balance sheet," Jeronimo said. "Apple Upgrade lands at precisely the moment Apple needs it," Jeronimo wrote in a note seen by Computerworld. "Having just pushed Mac and iPad prices up on the back of the memory shortage, with iPhone increases widely expected in September -- as well as the new iPhone foldable expected at $2,500 -- Apple's real risk is that rising prices even further can impact the upgrade cycle."
There is a one-more-thing aspect to this: the products are effectively being leased, a new approach that will give Apple a stronger grip on EOL devices, helping it grab more of them for refurbishment, resale, and recycling. Over time, this will give the company a much stronger grip on the lucrative second-user market that exists around Apple equipment, even while for almost every consumer product we find the life we want is something we can rent, but probably can't afford to own.
The other solid reason to take a partnership approach is risk management. Apple had intended to develop its own buy-now, pay-later scheme via Apple Pay Later, but abandoned that plan as it became riskier with rising bank rates. "Also, by backing the program with Klarna rather than reviving the in-house subscription plan it shelved in 2024, Apple captures the demand upside without taking the credit risk onto its own balance sheet," Jeronimo said. "Apple Upgrade lands at precisely the moment Apple needs it," Jeronimo wrote in a note seen by Computerworld. "Having just pushed Mac and iPad prices up on the back of the memory shortage, with iPhone increases widely expected in September -- as well as the new iPhone foldable expected at $2,500 -- Apple's real risk is that rising prices even further can impact the upgrade cycle."
Apple's wet dream (Score:4, Interesting)
You'll rent your hardware from us. You won't be able to buy it. Just like the Bell System did with Western Electric telephones before 1984.
You'll own nothing and you will be happy.
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Gamers Nexus exposed it. here is the resutl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om7qcxggZJQ [youtube.com]
But it didnt stop others from going this route. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyQwAhppWj8 [youtube.com]
as that is the end goal of these techbro oligarchs...
Re:Apple's wet dream (Score:5, Insightful)
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Ultimately, how bad of a deal this turns out to be hinges on how much worse it screws you compared against buying a phone and then trading it back in for Apple's perpetually lowball trade-in values. Upgrade-itis is expensive.
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Ya, this is a BAD idea. If you can't afford the phone, don't buy it, and certainly don't rent it. In the majority of cases someone might consider this, I can only see it ending badly, and I can think of a few people who would jump at this opportunity.
The problem is, it'll work.
Same as most people don't own their cars any more. They just lease it and pay the monthlies.
Most people already lease their phone, especially in the US, they just do it via the phone company. $100 per month for the IphoneDoublePlusGoodUUUBerValue plan + $10 per month handset rental fee + $20 per month service fee + $4.99 Fee fee + $2.99 Fee calculation fee. People now lease everything
At least over here in Europe there are more people like me who buy their handset outright
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Is Apple still allowing purchases?
You will own nothing (Score:5, Insightful)
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You will own nothing AND be perpetually in debt while not owning it.
I mean ... this is phones we're talking about. That's literally been the standard business model since mobile phones were analogue.
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You will own nothing AND be perpetually in debt while not owning it.
That is blatantly untrue...
You'll own the debt, that you won't escape.
What percentage of people buy their phone outright (Score:5, Interesting)
But through Klarna at 35+% interest..... uh, no. If that were my option from the carrier, I'd just put it on my credit card or just pay directly. My feeling is that Klarna is where you go when you need to finance items you really cannot afford at all.
Re:What percentage of people buy their phone outri (Score:5, Interesting)
I did. It was cheaper over the next two years to purchase it directly than any kind of payment scheme. In Canada they'll take a price of a flip that is say, 1700$ from samsung, say the MSRP is 2400$ at a telco, cut the price in half with a up-front "credit" since they can't do cancellation fees etc, so the phone is 1200$, then have you pay equal payments over 2 years of 50$ a month + whatever expensive plan. Then if you want to keep it, you have to pay the up-front credit of 1200$.
By buying it directly I saved 700$, plus being able to use a much cheaper plan and not locked into a contract. So I probably saved a fair amount more, paying 35$ pe rmonth for the plan rather than the 70$ they want typically.
It's very predatory, trying to conviencep people with less means to have the status / fancy devices that other people have while making their life a lot less affordable and they don't see it.
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I use Verizon's payment plan to pay for my phone
Thanks to T-Mobile's latest cash grab, I ditched my grandfathered plan and ported to Visible. Even though it's a Verizon subsidiary, that doesn't fly with Apple when it comes to doing their 0% Apple Card financing (you have to be on a postpaid plan one one of the "big 3" networks). I'm just gonna ride the phone I have for a few more years and like that option for fording a river in Oregon Trail, wait and see if the situation improves.
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I don't know about the non-us phone market but based on slashdot comments it seems like non-carrier locked, not carrier financed phones are maybe more common than here. Certainly in the US that option is only for eccentrics.
Klarna though seems no less but also not inherently more predatory to me than the very worst of the ultra high interest, tiny limit credit card issuers (Credit One, PREMIER, and similar).
I don't know what to tell someone though who can't afford a phone or PC. I would have said
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Usually, you can score a deal on a phone by churning between carriers every time one runs a compelling promotion. The main problem with this strategy is for folks who live in rural areas where only one carrier works well.
The downside to the US's carrier-subsidized phone business model is that the money still has to come from somewhere, and it does - in the form of higher service costs.
Re: What percentage of people buy their phone outr (Score:2)
I live in a rural area where no provider works well, you insensitive clod!
Always (Score:2)
They only time I can imagine renting something like a phone or computer is for a specific purpose, and only if there's an early out clause that would result in lower costs than a purchase. Like renting a phone for an international vacation to avoid the risk of brownshirts imaging your actual phone at the border. Otherwise it makes more sense to buy it outright and sell it afterwards.
But basically, if there is an option that doesn't result in a mo
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Like renting a phone for an international vacation to avoid the risk of brownshirts imaging your actual phone at the border.
For my last few international trips I have used a dumb phone with a new sim card bought at the destination. This avoids the "brownshirts at the border" scenario and also the "my carrier sucks and overcharges for international roaming" issue. It does mean that you will need to inform people what your new number is while you're traveling. On the upside, the people in your destination can get in touch with a local number instead of paying through the nose to call a number in your home country.
One issue I notic
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The phone was about 50 euro, and the sim card was 5 euro. Another 50 or so euro was enough for 6 weeks of travelling.
Replying to myself here.... my carrier charges several dollars per day for international roaming. So I'm in front financially, as well as in terms of privacy.
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Yet another reason (Score:3)
..to despise Apple
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..to despise Apple
For cutting the ISP out of the equation, and offering consumers the business model that is most used for mobile phone purchases globally?
Optionalizing additional incentivizers for (l)usrs (Score:3, Insightful)
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After raising prices significantly, we at Apple are now generously partnering with predatory financial companies to offer and induce our customers to become perpetual loan slaves for their basic computing needs. Our (l)usrs mean everything to us. And coming soon: additional optionalities with fantastic companies, including Payday Loans! The combined footprint of their thousands of shty little stores brings the financial abuse closer to your door than ever before. We're super proud of all that we're now able to do together.
With our high end products becoming overpriced, oversized phones the computing will be very basic indeed... and you'll still pay hundreds per month for it.
Probably because Apple Card is changing banks (Score:3, Informative)
In the early days of the Apple Card, it was pretty easy to get approved. That leniency is probably never coming back with Chase at the helm, so Apple needed a new way of turning folks with subprime credit into customers.
Yeah, there's an argument to be made that people who can only afford to lease Apple products should probably go with something else that's more budget-friendly instead, but more often than not you don't end up with poor credit in the first place if you're strict about sticking to your budget.
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It's really amazing that Apple managed to make their users look down on people who don't "afford" Apple bling.
But for a brief moment they did sell a sort-of cheap laptop.
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I think there's a difference between Apple "users" and Apple "fanbois". I'm one of the former, but not one of the latter.
I dislike intensely what Apple has become as a company. I don't use most of their software empire, have the stupid cloud blocked (because they're Internet amateurs), hate the dumb "we changed your file because you opened it" model they try to use to replace "Save As", can't stand the fake "green" orientation (please tell me how green it is to CNC mill a computer case out of aluminum vs. s
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Gottta choose. You just gotta choose. (Score:1)
Feed the kids. Pay the rent. Gas the car. Pay the student loan.
Or rent a $1000 feel-good telephone.
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Feed the kids. Pay the rent. Gas the car. Pay the student loan.
Man, nobody ever reads The Rules of Acquisition these days. Exploitation begins at home; make the kids get jobs.
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I do not rent hardware/software (Score:1)
I do not care what you use, if it works for you, you made the right choice.
If I can but buy it outright then I do not buy it.
I still run my 27" iMac with all the software I bought with zero extra costs
I do not install "in App purchases" Apps because of hidden costs, I have no idea what costs are involved, so no, not touching them.
my iPhone 11 will get replaced when it actually dies, not when Apple decides it needs
Klarna sounds like a Doctor Who villain. (Score:2)
They're not even trying to hide it, which I actually find quite refreshing.
That's not a subscription. (Score:2)
Why buy new ? (Score:2)
Just wait a bit and there will be a glut of smart phones available as everyone under the age of 16 gets booted of social media and the net in general.
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Just wait a bit and there will be a glut of smart phones available as everyone under the age of 16 gets booted of social media and the net in general.
15 year olds can still use phones as phones. They can still use phones to browse the internet. They can even still play most games. I don't think a "social media ban" is going to make them throw away their phones.
Attention genius author (Score:5, Informative)
Not that hard, not that weird.
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My 10 year old iPhone still receives OS updates. Show me any android where that’s happening.
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My 10 year old iPhone still receives OS updates.
It receives critical security patches, not updates. I actually have an iPhone around this vintage (6S) still kicking around in my junk drawer and there are quite a few major apps that can no longer be installed on it due to its outdated iOS version.
Granted, that is still an improvement over the "if you end up pwned, it's your fault for using an obsolete phone" way things work in the Android realm, but it's disingenuous to make it seem like an iPhone stays fully functional for a decade. At least in my own
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Or.... (Score:1)
...you could have a jar where you put, say, $20 a week. Or $10.
Even if you have a device now.
Let that jar fill. In 2 or 3 or 4 years, when you need a new phone, there'll be enough in that jar to buy that new phone outright without having to finance.
I understand if you can't do it the very first time. Fine. Finance that first phone. But immediately start on the saving $10-20 a week, for years.
You'll break the cycle, and it is liberating
(jar is metaphorical. You could open a savings account that you don
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I'm sure many "Future Phone Purchase Jars" start off with the best of intentions but quickly turn into the "White Claw Fund" instead.
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...you could have a jar where you put, say, $20 a week. Or $10.
Even if you have a device now.
Let that jar fill. In 2 or 3 or 4 years, when you need a new phone, there'll be enough in that jar to buy that new phone outright without having to finance.
I understand if you can't do it the very first time. Fine. Finance that first phone. But immediately start on the saving $10-20 a week, for years.
You'll break the cycle, and it is liberating
(jar is metaphorical. You could open a savings account that you don't touch for anything except phones. And direct-deposit a tiny slice of your paycheck into it, and forget it exists until new phone time.)
Try it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa there Tiger... Firstly you're suggesting people live within their means... are you some kind of Commulinst or something? Why do you hate 'Murica?
Most people are already so far beyond their means that $10 a month being saved would be a huge improvement. When I was a lad (I'm only just over 40) saying you were living "payday to payday" was a sign you had money troubles, now it's a sign you're doing well as most people are living debt repayment to debt repayment. They got into debt to get
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Confused (Score:2)
I'm confused by this. Apple ALREADY offers financing through their own Apple Credit program to purchase hardware. So, why then outsource what they already have in-house and working great where they get to keep everything themselves?
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Buy now pay the cost later (Score:2)
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There are problems with that, I wouldn't argue otherwi
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