Model iPhone subscriptions as such is quite logical. Therefore, if it did not exist, it would be worth inventing it, as more enterprising businessmen did. True, this service is called a subscription only insofar as, therefore, we call it iPhone Upgrade Program. All they have in common is a monthly payment. And the rest is different.
iPhone by subscription – what’s the catch
In advertising, conditions are always a little more profitable than in real life.
So let’s start with what iPhone subscription in Russia – this is actually leasing, when you take the device for temporary use for a monthly fee and undertake to return it back after the stated period or take it for yourself, paying the remaining amount.
That is a kind of lease with the right to purchase. This is where all the limitations, inconveniences and features of this service follow, because the financial benefit from its use is either minimal or non-existent.
Let’s take an iPhone subscription as an example, which is offered by one popular Apple Premium Reseller, whose name literally translates into Russian as “Per:shop”.
He offers buy iPhone by subscription, assuring that in this way your savings will be 30-40% of the cost of a new device. But in fact, this benefit does not even smell, because the price of a smartphone is formed a little more complicated than it seems.
Is it profitable to take an iPhone by subscription
This is how the calculation of payments for an iPhone purchased by subscription looks like
In simple terms, the cost of insurance is added to the original cost of the iPhone, and 40% is subtracted from this amount in the form of residual value. All this is divided into 12 monthly payments, and we get some amount depending on the model of the selected smartphone.
But residual value plays a big role here. The residual value is the amountwhich you will have to pay if you decide redeem an iPhone your property, and which you will not pay if you return the smartphone back.
But there are a few caveats here:
First, our Pere:shop takes the highest price per iPhone like Apple, while in regular retail, the company’s smartphones are already cheaper. Let’s say iPhone 12 Pro Max 512GB Subscription is estimated at 139,990 rubles against plus or minus 125 thousand in regular retail.
But after all, when subscribing, in addition, you will also have to pay for insurance, which allows you to replace a broken screen for free once a year. That is, to the existing 140 thousand, we add almost 14 more.
By subscription, you can buy any iPhone, but it will not be more profitable
Yes, when subscribing, 40% of the residual value is deducted from the total amount. But the thing is that, firstly, the iPhone is sold quite expensive even without it, and, secondly, as a result, you will have to return the smartphone to the seller. That is, you pay 8139 rubles / month * 12 months = 97 668 rubles.
And, if you want the device to become yours, give back neither more nor less, 56 thousand. As a result, we get more than 153 thousand rubles for the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which can be bought for 125-128 thousand without a subscription.
Whether there is a iPhone subscription alternative? Yes, there is, and it installment plan for iPhone. In general, I consider installments to be a very profitable financial instrument, but compared to a subscription, this is just a real salvation. See for yourself:
iPhone 12 Pro Max 512 GB worth 128 thousand rubles in DNS can be taken in installments for the same 12 months. As a result, the monthly payment will be a little more than 10 thousand rubles (against 8 thousand for a subscription).
Which is better: iPhone subscription or installment plan
Buying an iPhone in installments is guaranteed to be more profitable than by subscription
But on the other hand, in a year you will receive your own smartphone, which you will not have to buy back, return, and even more so pay fines for it. Of course, provided that you regularly make monthly payments under the loan agreement, which is mandatory when providing installments.
How? Didn’t I mention fines? Yes yes, if you return iPhone, purchased by subscription is not in perfect condition, you will be fined. This is what insurance is offered to you for, because without it, such a product as a subscription would generally look like a robbery, since the user himself would have to repair a broken device at his own expense. There is no such thing in the case of installments.
But the most important thing is that after 12 (and in some cases 18 or even 24) installment payments, the smartphone will be yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. For example, you can sell it for 50% of the value on the secondary market. For this money, such a device will simply be torn off with your hands, and you will have half the capital to buy a new model.
Is it really worth it often change iPhone is a different kind of question. My colleague Ivan Gerasimov recently discussed its expediency – be sure to read it, there are a lot of interesting thoughts. But, be that as it may, it is better to pay for something of your own than for someone else’s, which will never become yours – I mean, for adequate money.
