One of the threats to Apple’s revenue stream has been longer smartphone upgrade cycles. The average in the US has crept slowly upwards, to around 2.5 years today – meaning most people are upgrading every 2-3 years.
The iPhone Upgrade Program was a smart solution – from Apple’s perspective. By giving people the option of upgrading every year for one monthly fee, the company strongly encourages people to do so. But it’s not such a great deal from the customer side …
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