Samsung is preparing a phone upgrade program for the South Korean market, letting customers pay monthly fees for their flagships. They are also allowed to switch to a new premium phone every 12 months.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge go on sale in Korea from Friday and customers can sign up for a 24 month installment plan, offered via Samsung Card. Those who do, will pay a monthly fee of $6.35, aside from the cost of the device. This lets them upgrade to a new Galaxy S or Galaxy Note after 12 months under that plan, in exchange for the original device bought.
Apple did something similar last fall, when they offered upgrade programs for iPhones, with similar monthly fees (albeit steeper in price). With the Samsung Galaxy S7 offering not exactly huge upgrades over the S6, Samsung felt the need to increase fidelity of customers for future generations of products and drop the initial big price paid for the S7, in favour of installments.
via Reuters
