Although Samsung has no response if this upgrade is indeed true, this makes a huge change in the phone market.
Analysts have noted that unlike before, consumers aren’t rushing anymore to upgrade their devices and wireless carriers have been continuously reinventing their ways to sell phones.
The installment plan could help Samsung give consumers a new reason to consider upgrading their devices. This also matches Apple’s upgrade plan which the company launched in September last year.
With Apple, consumers sign a 24-month agreement, but by paying for the phone in 12 monthly installments, they can upgrade to the latest iPhone after a year.
The benefits of this to the company is that they are able to lock in buyers by promising them a new phone every year. Customers, on the other hand, get more flexible options compared to the traditional two-year contracts.
Assuming Samsung will indeed launch their smartphone plan upgrade, it’s likely that they will start it with the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge.
C/Net reports that the program may be released first in South Korea before expanding it to the US and other regions. This will be the company’s advantage as Apple’s upgrade program covers only the US so far.
Other smartphone manufacturers are also looking into this trend in South Korea. Electronic Times say that SK Telecom and LG UPlus are also preparing to launch such programs.