Apple has reportedly canceled its hardware subscription service, where customers could own an iPhone by paying a monthly fee; Regulatory concerns were one issue

On By Littum

In 2022, it was reported that Apple was working on a hardware subscription service that involved paying a monthly fee to become the proud owner of an iPhone. On paper, this business model would have made sense for potentially millions of customers who didn’t have the means to pay $799 and up to own the latest and greatest model. Although the possibilities to benefit from this subscription would be almost endless, the latest report claims that Apple has dropped its plan to introduce this service. The latest information says that there were various reasons for this cancellation, so let’s discuss them in more detail.

Other issues, such as software bugs, delayed the hardware subscription service, and with its cancellation, the teams working on Apple’s next launch have now been redeployed to other projects

Even before the latest Bloomberg report, Apple was previously said to have faced several issues in launching its hardware subscription service, leading to several delays. Further updates mention that Apple would have directed customers to third-party loan offers rather than handling all the risk themselves. There were various reasons why the company was forced to cancel the service, with one of them being related to regulatory concerns, combined with software bugs.

It’s unconfirmed when Apple stopped working on the subscription, but it’s likely that the team working on it was disbanded a few months ago and reassigned to other projects. As mentioned above, what the Cupertino company wanted to introduce to the masses could have been game-changing and would probably have attracted millions of potential customers under its umbrella.

After all, having the option to pay an unlocked iPhone’s retail price over 12 or 24 months meant customers wouldn’t be pressured to part with their hard-earned cash in a single purchase. Shortly after the iPhone, Apple could have introduced this hardware subscription service for other products, but it seems the company had other intentions.

News source: Bloomberg