According to a report from FierceWireless which in turn credits wireless market research firm Wave7 for the information, Sprint discontinued its Sprint Lease program for all Android smartphones earlier this week. As the information explains, the company concluded that the program wasn’t financially viable anymore. However, the US carrier has apparently continued the leasing program for the last four iPhone models as that one is allegedly making more money and no changes are expected on the iOS side of things. According to the details, Sprint discontinued the leasing plans for Android devices shortly after its last customers turned in or purchased their leased Samsung Galaxy S7 units several days ago. The research firm’s analysts aren’t surprised by this turn of events as they point out the signs were there as early as June when the carrier stopped leasing the Galaxy S7 Edge after only four months.
This report basically directly contradicts the statement Sprint’s CEO Marcelo Claure made last year when he said that the US carrier will fully embrace the leasing program which will replace the company’s two-year contracts. While that did happen in early 2016, Sprint reintroduced two-year plans after only a month and has been offering both since. Curiously enough, the carrier’s representatives are reported to have declined to officially confirm this discontinuation, which just makes the entire situation even more confusing. However, if Sprint truly wasn’t realizing significant profits from the Android leasing program, the fact that it decided to drop it despite being relatively popular among the customers is no surprise, as Sprint is currently doing whatever it can to start making money once again.
The Sprint Lease program had initially launched in October of 2014 and has been relatively popular among the carrier’s customers ever since. It originally offered the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S5 Sport for only $20 a month. After the end of the agreed leasing period, customers were able to either continue the lease, buy the device, or turn it in. A lot of Sprint’s customers were rather satisfied with this flexibility, but if the current details are to be believed, it has now come to an end.