Apple’s New iPhone Sets Off Slew Of Wireless Carrier Promotions

(Bloomberg) -- The arrival of Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone kicks off another season of sales promotions from the top three US wireless carriers, including free phones, discounts and, in the case of Verizon Communications Inc., a plan that includes Apple’s music, TV and data-storage services for free.

Apple introduced several product updates on Wednesday, including the new iPhone 14 Pro for $999. Carriers are offering that model for free under certain conditions.

The promotions triggered by new iPhone releases have fueled a surge in mobile subscriber growth at AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc. over the past two years. Those gains have put pressure on Verizon, which reported far fewer new customers than analysts expected in the second quarter. The discounting threatens to crimp industry profit margins as the battle for market share continues.

Here are the offers:

• AT&T said new and existing customers can get a free iPhone 14 Pro. The company is also offering customers who trade in old phones as much as $1,000 toward other new iPhones. The deal requires the customer to sign on to a select unlimited plan. AT&T is also cutting in half the price for the older iPhone 12 mini.
• T-Mobile is giving away a free iPhone 14 Pro to new and existing customers with an eligible trade-in and the selection of its top tier Magenta Max unlimited plan. The company is also offering a twofer: buy one iPhone 14 and get a second one free, if the customer is adding a new line.
• Verizon, in an exclusive deal with Apple, is introducing the One Unlimited for iPhone plan. It includes the Apple One bundle (Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade video games and iCloud storage) starting at $90 a month. This offer is similar to, yet separate from, one that includes a bundle of Walt Disney Co.’s streaming TV services.

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