The mobile phone upgrade customer dilemma

Over the past decade mobile phone contracts have stretched out beyond the established 12 month window as devices have become increasingly expensive. With devices costing well beyond £500 the mobile networks have felt the need to push contracts out to 18 or 24 months to make the monthly billing palatable for customers. The experience means the decision of when to upgrade becomes increasingly stressful and of greater significance. Most of the key players have device refresh cycles that cut well below this with even Apple timing an annual update to the device and the likes of Samsung accelerating their release cycles to try and get ahead. The customer experience of this can be frustrating as it pushes the costs of staying leading edge beyond the reach of most who have to justify their expenditure. The latest releases from Apple this week of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c likely fall on deaf ears for many Apple fans who had forked out 12 months ago for the iPhone 5 but locked into contract for at least the next 6 months by which point they are only 6 months away from the next major release which is likely to be the more groundbreaking iPhone 6. As a result I think the iPhone 5s & 5c will not hit the sales targets reached previously by the 5 as customers will be sitting it out not prepared to buy out contracts but waiting for the 6. This same phenomenon is common across Android devices where the same economies are shaping renewals. So tech giants need to be patient and let us catch up but keep pushing the boundaries so we can enjoy even shinier newer kit. Long contracts = killing an epic customer experience.