It's being reported today that Apple Inc. may be closer to introducing a new subscription service for the iPhone and other hardware products, a move that could make device ownership similar to paying a monthly app fee. The general idea has been kicking around since at least Q4 2019.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that "The service would be Apple’s biggest push yet into automatically recurring sales, allowing users to subscribe to hardware for the first time -- rather than just digital services. But the project is still in development.

Already, the iPhone is Apple’s biggest source of sales, generating nearly $192 billion last year -- more than half the company’s revenue."

The chart below shows that the iPhone made up 52.5% of sales in 2021. A part of the iPhone success is the ability to sell iPhone through carriers on a subscription basis. If it works for iPhones, why not other Apple devices including Macs?

(Click on image to Enlarge)

Reportedly, "Apple is planning to let customers subscribe to hardware with the same Apple ID and App Store account they use to buy apps and subscribe to services today.

The program would differ from an installment program in that the monthly charge wouldn’t be the price of the device split across 12 or 24 months. Rather, it would be a yet-to-be-determined monthly fee that depends on which device the user chooses.

The company has discussed allowing users of the program to swap out their devices for new models when fresh hardware comes out. It historically releases new versions of its major devices, including the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, once a year. 

Apple has been working on the subscription program for several months, but the project was recently put on the back burner in an effort to launch a “buy now, pay later” service more quickly. Nonetheless, the subscription service is still expected to launch at the end of 2022, but could be delayed into 2023 or end up getting canceled, the people said.

For more on this, read the full Bloomberg report.