T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) is clearly hoping that it gets a large chunk of the sales of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 6s and 6s Plus starting on Friday, undercutting all of its competitors by offering the 16 GB iPhone 6s for $5 a month and the 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus for $9 per month in device payments when customers trade in their iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.
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Under T-Mobile's "Jump! On Demand" device leasing program, if customers trade in an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ or Note 5, they can walk out the door with a 16 GB iPhone 6s and pay $5 per month in leasing payments. If customers trade in an iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy S5 or Note 4, the price jumps to $10. Or for almost any other smartphone trade-in the price is $15 per month. With those same trade-ins at T-Mobile, the price for a 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus would go from $9 to $14 to $19 per month.
Importantly, in order to get the discount from the trade-ins, customers need to own their existing device.
Without a trade-in, the lease payment is $20 per month for the 16 GB iPhone 6s and $24 for a 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus.
Additionally, T-Mobile said that if customers hang on to their iPhone after their 18 month Jump! On Demand agreement is up, they can get a 16 GB iPhone 6s for $524, or $125 less than the full retail price.
The T-Mobile program seems designed to encourage customers to upgrade from last year's models. T-Mobile customers have an incentive to do so, not just because they will get a new smartphone but because the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus support T-Mobile's Band 12 700 MHz A Block spectrum, which will provide stronger coverage. T-Mobile's 700 MHz spectrum covers 190 million POPs and the company has currently deployed it to 165 million POPs.
Other carriers are hoping to lure customers with discounted iPhone offers. Starting Sept. 25, qualified Sprint (NYSE: S) customers can get a 16 GB iPhone 6s for $15 per month in monthly device payments and a 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus for $19 per month in device payments. Customers who choose not to trade in an existing smartphone when they buy a new iPhone can get a 16 GB iPhone 6s for $22 per month and a 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus for $26 per month. Under Sprint's "iPhone Forever" program, Sprint customers can get a new iPhone every year as soon as the new one comes out by trading in their old phone.
Under AT&T Mobility's (NYSE: T) "Next 24" equipment installment plan, customers can get a 16 GB iPhone 6s for $21.67 per month and customers can upgrade after they make 24 installment payments. AT&T also offers other Next options, but they come with higher per-month installment charges. Under Verizon Wireless' (NYSE: VZ) device payment option, customers can get a 16 GB iPhone 6s for $27.08 per month, but must pay off the full cost of their device before they can upgrade.
T-Mobile also said that starting Sept. 25, it will offer the Apple Watch in around 200 of its stores, joining Sprint in selling the smart watch in its retail stores.
For more:
- see these two separate T-Mobile releases
- see this TMoNews article
- see this VentureBeat article
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