Lease is the word

Phone-upgrade addicts may soon be lured to subscription services rather than buying new models outright.

- Peter Griffin

The highlight of Apple's annual gadget fest is the debut of the new iPhone, which is still the company's flagship product. The iPhone range generated US$192 billion in revenue for Apple last year, equivalent to well over half of our country's gross domestic product (GDP). But the iPhone sales juggernaut is gradually losing momentum, due to the fact we are upgrading our smartphones less frequently.

That's a good thing for the planet, but not for Apple. The smartphone and computer maker is expected to counter that trend this year by launching a hardware subscription plan. It's like subscribing to Netflix or Microsoft 365, only the primary product is hardware, not a software-based service

You could soon be buying an iPhone in the same way you pay for an iCloud or Apple Music subscription, even bundling them all together into one monthly payment. So-called device-as-a-service options have been common in the business world for some time.