With the continuous popularity of smart phones, various third-party applications have become the most commonly used "life partners" of small partners. At the same time, subscription services have also entered thousands of households, whether in streaming media applications or productivity tools, the subscription-based charging model has been widely used by developers.
Although as a user, you often prefer the buyout system charging model, after all, people's desire for "owning" is innate. But for app developers, subscriptions are a longer-term, stable source of revenue.
Even if the buyout price of an app will be much higher than the price of a subscription for a year, the latter is a real long-term business for the long-term renewal and maintenance of the app.
What is this like by subscribing to a mobile phone?
If you want to say that the technology companies that attract the most small black eyeballs during this time, in addition to Apple, you should not find a second one.
The front foot spring conference has just ended, and the back foot WWDC is coming again. And in between, another big news broke.
According to people familiar with the matter, Apple is designing subscription services for the iPhone as well as other hardware products. Through this service, users will likely obtain the right to use Apple's hardware devices through subscriptions in the future.
Speaking of this, small partners may ask: Apple does not already have installments of interest-free, the same is to pay according to a certain cycle, what will be the difference between it and hardware subscription services?
According to the information now known, Xiao Hei feels that the biggest difference between the two is who owns the hardware equipment.
▲The subscription system has been accepted by many users
Taking an app's subscription as an example, during the subscription period, users can use any of the app's features at any time. Once the subscription expires and the user does not choose to renew, some applications can only use the basic functions, while other applications can not be used at all.
From this perspective, the subscription system is more similar to the traditional equipment rental service, the user can pay a lower amount than the original price of the equipment to obtain the right to use the equipment, but the ownership of the equipment is still in the hands of the lessor. In this case, if the user refuses to pay for the next subscription, then the lessor has the right to reclaim the device.
Although the installment payment model is also paid according to a certain cycle, in fact, it only splits the value of the device into multiple cycles for sale, even if the user does not pay in the end, the ownership of the device is still in the hands of the user, and Apple has no right to take back the device.
Of course, banks and other financial institutions that provide installment services will come to them.
On the Internet, there are also some small partners who believe that hardware subscriptions are similar to Apple's "renewal every year" plan. Indeed, the annual renewal program allows users to buy a new generation of iPhones at half the price in about a year of using the iPhone, reducing the user's replacement cost. However, the ownership of the mobile phone purchased is still in the hands of the user.
Arguably, the difference in product ownership is the biggest difference between the rumored hardware subscription service and today's installment payment service and annual renewal plan.
If you insist on finding a similar case in the market, the common "promise to consume and send mobile phones" ten years ago and the popular rental service in recent years may be closer to the hardware subscription. More importantly, compared with the two, Apple's official hardware subscription may have more advantages in subscription management: who does not honestly pay money, I directly let his mobile phone can not turn on.
Not sure if there is, but we can analyze it
5 years ago, if someone and Xiaohei said: "In the future, Apple will come up with a hardware subscription service", then Xiaohei must feel that this person is a liar.
However, after experiencing the unexpected product baptism of AirTag, Bangs Screen MacBook, and Polishing Cloth, Xiao Hei began to feel that Apple's "innovation" possibility was no longer zero.
▲The next one with bangs will not be an iPad
If you want to evaluate subjectively, the probability may be 46: the probability of this subscription service actually launching is about 40%.
Don't mind too much, this number was written casually by Xiao Hei. In fact, Apple has not said anything about it. This number is just to illustrate that in the eyes of the little black, the probability of a hardware subscription launch is not very low, but it is not very high.
According to the breaking news, if there is any, Apple's hardware subscription service may be launched at the end of this year or next year, or it may eventually be canceled. In addition, it is currently thought that the price of hardware subscriptions will likely be bundled with some of Apple's other subscription services, such as Apple Care+ or Apple One, and will not be based on installment prices.
▲ Hardware subscriptions may be tied to the Apple One
Of course, this means that the hardware subscription service may not be related to domestic users in a short period of time.
Since the breaking news all says that there is a nose and an eye, if it is from the perspective of hardware subscription will be launched, what benefits can it bring to consumers?
A very simple advantage is that the price mentioned above in Xiao Hei is relatively cheap.
Whether we compare the application subscription service or the "promise to spend and send the phone", we can find that even if it is a one-year subscription or commitment to spend, it is often much lower than the app buyout price or the full amount of the mobile phone.
Therefore, we can boldly speculate that even if Apple launches a hardware subscription service, its 12-month subscription amount will be much less than the value of the phone, but it is likely to be higher than the 24-month installment price.
In addition, compared with the commitment to consume mobile phone delivery or rental services, the official hardware subscription service will at least be more secure in terms of products and services. What's more, its subscription methods are also likely to be more flexible.
▲There are many rental services on the market
In the previous article "Want to change mobile phones but are shy, should I use the rental service?" In ", Xiao Hei once introduced the model of rental service. As with the promise of sending mobile phones, after the two sign an agreement, if they want to end the service early, they either need to go through a lot of restrictions or they can't do it at all.
If Apple's hardware subscription is really the same as the existing application and service subscription model, then the user can cancel the subscription before the next payment date, and the service can also be used until the subscription expiration date.
After expiration, the thing is to return the corresponding device to the Apple Store.
For Apple officials, hardware subscription services are also a matter of steady profit. The general income model we can still refer to the article on leasing. Apple also has a more important "killer", that is, his dismantling robots "Daisy" and "Dave".
▲Daisy
According to the introduction, a Daisy dismantling robot can disassemble 200 different models of iPhones per hour, equivalent to 18 seconds. At the same time, it can also automatically identify the iPhone model.
Dave is used to recycle various materials in iPhone components and reuse rare earths, magnets and other resources.
With the help of these two "artificial intelligences", the iPhone that expires can be better reused, which is really safe for Apple.
▲ Officially certified refurbished products are also a good home for subscription expired equipment
Of course, there are two issues in the end that both Apple and consumers need to consider.
First of all, there is the problem of consumers not returning devices after the subscription expires. Of course, apple will have its own solutions at that time, and we don't need to think about it. Another question is whether Apple will add a "automatic buyout after the payment amount reaches the price of the device" in the service. If there is, it will be a boon for users with a long replacement cycle, and if not, at least it is not a bad thing.
Of course, whether this service can be launched is still unknown, but Google's previous similar service "Pixel Pass" may be a "pearl jade". Allowing users to use their phones for less money is perhaps the greatest value of hardware subscriptions.
Image source: pixabay, screenshots in the phone, pictures of Apple's official website