T-Mobile Hopes Trade-In Offer Will Lure iPhone Customers From Rivals
As it prepares to begin selling the iPhone 5 on Friday, T-Mobile is starting an aggressive program encouraging iPhone owners from other carriers to switch to T-Mo.
T-Mobile will offer a variety of discounts for those who trade in an iPhone 4, iPhone 4S or iPhone 5. The discounts come in the form of a lower upfront payment, bill credit, and discounts of the monthly device financing cost.
In each case, trading in an iPhone will bring the upfront cost down from $99 to zero, with additional credits depending on which model of iPhone is being traded in. The total savings can add up to hundreds of dollars.
“It really is the simplest and most affordable way to get into an iPhone 5,” T-Mobile Senior VP Andrew Sherrard said in an interview.
The trade-in offer is slated to run through June 16 — Father’s Day.
As for overall iPhone business, Sherrard said that T-Mobile is pleased with preorders, but declined to say how many had come in.
“We’re really happy and pleased with how that’s going,” Sherrard said. “We think we are going to see some good traffic in our stores on Friday and Saturday.”
T-Mobile will start selling the iPhone 5 at 9 am local time on Friday.
