Here's How to Get a New iPhone Every Year For the Rest Of Your Life

Gary Krakow

10/27/14 - 11:20 AM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Sprint

(S) is expanding its "iPhone for Life" program making it easier for participants to upgrade their Apple

(AAPL) iPhones every year. By agreeing to the new one year option, program subscribers will be able to rent rather than buy the newest iPhone model as soon as it's released.

Originally announced last month, Sprint's iPhone for Life plan allowed customers to upgrade their phones every two years. Under the new option, customers can now upgrade their iPhone every twelve months which corresponds to Apple's recent timetable for releasing new iPhone models. Sprint will continue to offer the 24 month plan.

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Pricing for the new one-year option is based on model and capacity, with a 16GB iPhone 6 coming in at $30 per month, while a 16GB iPhone 6 Plus costs $35 per month. This compares to $20 per month for a base model iPhone 6 and $25 per month for a 6 Plus on the 24-month iPhone for Life term.

Sprint's new CEO, Marcelo Claure boasted, "The iPhone for Life Plan gives customers the lowest monthly cost in the industry for acquiring an iPhone. We are making it easy and affordable for consumers to get what they want."

Analyst Colby Synesael of Cowen & Company thinks with the addition of "iPhone for Life" Sprint now has the most compellingly priced iPhone offer on the market. "As such (Sprint) should be in a relatively better position than it would have otherwise to take share particularly from AT&T and Verizon," Synesael said via email. "This however didn't start to occur until the iPhone 6/6+ was launched in late September, so it's less likely to show up in C3Q14 results but should be noticeable in C4Q14 results."

Sprint's quarterly earnings call is scheduled for Nov. 3. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the company to announce a loss of 6 cents per share on $8.59 billion in revenue.

Synesael added that he thought it was "unlikely" any of the carriers including T-Mobile TMUS, would match the Sprint offer, as AT&T

(T) and Verizon

(VZ) no longer offer unlimited data plans, and T-Mobile feeling "that it needs to have a more price competitive offer than AT&T/Verizon but not Sprint."

Sprint shares were off 0.66% to $6.04 in early morning trading in New York.

The carrier is also making the iPhone 5s available to lease, beginning in mid-November. Customers will be able to get a 16GB iPhone 5s for $18 a month on a 24 month agreement, a 32GB for $21 per month and the 64GB model for $24 per month. Users don't need a down payment for the new iPhone for Life plans if their credit score is good. At the end of the lease agreement, customers have the choice of turning in the device and leasing another phone, buying the leased iPhone, continue the lease on a month-to-month basis or return the phone and end the service.

Sprint is quick to point out that its new one-year deal "beats Verizon Wireless' upgrade policy which was recently changed to make customers pay off 75% of the balance which is 18 months of device payments to get a new iPhone." 

Paul deSa, analyst with Bernstein & Company isn't sure whether Sprint's new "killer plan" will make a big difference in the long run. Via email, deSa said it's "easy for competitors to imitate", "not clear that consumers really care" and "generally plans make the carriers reported numbers look better in the short term, via accounting, but lead to more uncertainty about actual value creation/longer term implications."

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Written by Gary Krakow in New York.

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