Wireless upgrade plans to boost smartphone sales

U.S. wireless carriers are offering customers to upgrade phones more often. That’s welcome news for consumers and could also provide a much-needed lift for Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc., which earlier this month gave users an option to replace devices as often as every six months, rather than the typical two years in the U.S. Smartphone makers could use the help as they struggle from falling prices and a maturing market.

Following telecoms new offerings, “you’ll have people who go from upgrading every 24 months to 12 months, and people who used to upgrade every 12 months changing to six months,” said for Bloomberg Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics LLC.

The new rules of switching smartphones is just what the phone-makers need at the moment as it gives them updated information about users preferences and buying patterns . More than 60% of U.S. mobile subscribers already have smartphones, according to Nielsen Co. Average prices are likely to drop to $285 this year from $300 in 2012, Chetan Sharma, an independent wireless analyst, said for Bloomberg. And both the high-margin Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S4 sales are showing signs of slowing growth.

Those plans appeal to people that are interested in the latest most powerful flagship smartphones. Users who are willing to pay extra for owning the recent gadget market offers.

The extent to which the new policies ultimately benefit handset makers may hinge on how much inventory carriers already have ordered. Verizon Wireless, for one, may use accelerated device upgrades to reduce unsold iPhone inventory. As prices fall, smartphone makers also arent getting as much revenue per phone. Device makers may see just a modest single-digit percentage gain in annual sales, according to Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

For some clients used to deal-shopping, the new plans will only work if they bring significant savings for customers. “If they’re charging you more to upgrade, I think it’s going to be a dismal failure,” said Gary Austin, an AT&T customer for two decades who got an iPhone right after the handset debuted in 2007. “If they didnt charge me a fee to do it, I would maybe consider doing it.”