What About This New "Leasing A Phone" Thing?

[dijit]

Originally Posted by stearns

I never liked the idea of having to turn a working phone in to get a new one, I usually use my phone until it breaks, that's how I know it's time to replace it. I don't want to be making monthly payments to "lease it and also have to set money aside to get it fixed before turning it in. sounds like a great way for the carriers to make a lot of money though, hope whoever came up with that one got a nice big raise

While I personally dont work in the industry I do know a few people that do and yes the lease program is a cash cow for the industry. The turning them in to get a new one is a smaller cash cow according to my ATT contact as they sell them back to be refurbished and or recycled after it has already been paid for. When you consider that the average smart phone has $50 in parts and $35 to $70 labor to manufacture and to lease it for 2 years is $1000 to $1200 total and to buy it outright is $500 to $800 on average. Big apples excluded of course because they are even more. Then add $10 a month insurance on average and we begin to see this is cell phone extortion.