People are holding on to their phone handsets longer – Vodafone has a plan to match

Vodafone have announced that they are the first Telco in Australia to offer a 48 month access/handset repayment plan. The decision comes as it is revealed that customers using handsets 4 years or older has doubled since 2021.

As phone prices continue to rise, especially in the last 12 months or so as the costs of component parts such as memory and storage skyrocket, customers have decided that why not hold on to their old phones a bit longer?

Many would argue that we have hit peak smartphone so incremental improvements year on year are not as significant as they once were. That leads to increased durations between new phone purchases

So Vodafone have decided to match the more popular replacement period with plans that work in unison

Vodafone quote an example of an iPhone 18 Pro 256GB purchased on a 24-month payment plan with Vodafone costs about $88 per month. Now, on Vodafone’s 48-month plan, the monthly cost halves to around $44 per month over the longer tenure.  

James Gully, Acting Group Executive Consumer at Vodafone, said the new repayment option reflects changing consumer habits and growing pressure on household budgets. “Australians are holding onto their phones for four years or more, but until now they haven’t had the repayment options to match,” Mr Gully said. 

The plans are available now to credit-approved customers, allowing them to split the cost into equal monthly instalments, interest-free when they stay connected to Vodafone