Source : Perth Now news
Australians are keeping their phones for longer as the price of new devices continues to climb, with some of the latest high-end models now setting people back thousands of dollars.
The number of customers continuing to use a phone that is at least four-years-old or more has doubled since 2021, according to new data by Vodafone.
The telco said it is seeing more customers push into their fourth year with the same handset, as people weigh up the cost of updating the technology they already have, with some new devices retailing for as much as $5000.
Vodafone acting group executive consumer James Gully said phones had become more expensive as the technology inside them improved.
“Device technology is just getting more and more advanced,” Mr Gully said.
“As a result of that, the devices are getting more and more expensive.”
He said the latest iPhone Pro models started at about $2100, while sophisticated high-end devices launching at the end of October would start at about $3500.
Despite some smartphones being available for just a few hundred dollars, Mr Gully said there was an appetite for the latest and most advanced devices.
“Customers are still wanting those expensive devices, even though there’s lower cost options as well,” he said.
“There’s a significant cohort of customers that do really want the new technology and they want the latest and the greatest.
“We are seeing upgrade cycles of people hanging on to their handsets for longer.”
He said the shift to longer upgrade cycles had been happening over a number of years rather than because of one sudden jump in prices.
“It’s been a fairly consistent trend, but that number has doubled for us over a reasonably short period of time,” Mr Gully said.
“Where you’re seeing customers push out that time, we are seeing an uptick in customers looking for other options.”
He said Vodafone introduced a 36-month payment plan in 2017, after customers began moving out of their traditional two-year upgrade cycle.
Yhe Telco has launched a 48-month interest free payment option on Tuesday, allowing customers to spread the cost of a new phone over four years.
For an iPhone 18 Pro 256GB, that would mean repayments of about $44 a month over 48 months, compared with about $88 a month over 24 months.
Mr Gully said customers were also increasingly using trade-ins to help bring down the cost of upgrading.
“There’s a cost of living crisis and people are doing it pretty tough,” Mr Gully said.
