There no more service contracts, now you contract only the phone at full price. Will make less people buy phones that often.
No, CA Guy, it means people can upgrade more often. They don't have to wait until a two year contract expires to upgrade. In fact, that is exactly what is happening with the NEXT program at AT&T. Subscribers are upgrading every year, trading in their phones by rolling over their one year old model for the newest model when it comes out by trading in the older one. . . just like buying a car with a balance still left on it, but which has enough equity to pay for itself. Sorry, but you are just wrong.
I bought my iPhone 6 on the NEXT program and when the iPhone 6s came out, I walked into the AT&T store, turned in my iPhone 6 and walked out with an iPhone 6s at zero cost out of my pocket and my payments per month on my purchase contract did not change. . . they were just extended equal to the number I had already paid on my iPhone 6. Next year, when the iPhone 7 comes out, I can walk in and trade in my iPhone 6s and walk out with an iPhone 7. Same deal.
With that plan, Apple sells a new phone every twelve months instead of selling a new phone every 24 months. If every Apple iPhone user does it, they just doubled their sales! In addition, they get used iPhones to recondition and sell at discounted prices over-seas in emerging markets. Win-win. . . and higher profits.