{"id":562037,"date":"2024-09-27T10:01:43","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T08:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=562037"},"modified":"2024-10-07T11:29:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T09:29:12","slug":"smartphone-contracts-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/smartphones\/562037-smartphone-contracts-warning.html","title":{"rendered":"Smartphone contracts warning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans looking to buy smartphones on 36-month or 48-month contracts should be aware that they will still be paying for their device long after its warranty has expired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If their smartphone suffers from a factory fault, it could cost thousands of rand to repair or replace while they will have to keep paying for their device or take a significant penalty fee for early cancellation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of South Africa’s major mobile networks introduced 36-month or 3-year contracts over the past few years, after a long period where 24-month or 2-year contracts were the standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom recently went a step further by adding 48-month contracts this year to help make new devices more affordable for subscribers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN South Africa and Telkom told MyBroadband they would also asses customer demand for 48-month contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cell C said while it was open to the idea in the future, there were significant limitations
regarding credit risk and affordability that would need to be addressed before it could offer such contracts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main motivation for these extended contract periods is the rising prices of smartphones in South Africa \u2014 particularly flagship models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the US pricing of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S-series smartphones have remained largely the same over the past five years, the South African pricing has increased sharply due to a weakened rand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By extending the payment period over another year, mobile networks can make the monthly premiums on high-end devices more affordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our 48-month contract strategy aims to make high-end devices more affordable to our customers,” Vodacom has explained. “This approach helps customers stay connected even during challenging economic times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another reason for the longer contract period is a recent trend that has seen smartphone owners retain their devices for longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the extended upgrade lifecycle, many more consumers are willing to hold on to their devices for longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

451 Research<\/a><\/strong>‘s Digital Endpoint Tracker, based on surveys conducted in the fourth quarter of 2023, found that nearly a third (33%) of all respondents said they replaced their smartphones every five years, up from less than a fifth (20%) over the same period a year earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Software updates lasting much longer than two years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Major manufacturers like Apple and Samsung offer software updates for much longer than the typical 2-year contract period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ensures users can enjoy the latest features and the best possible security protection long after they first receive their device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samsung has promised that its most recent flagship \u2014 the Galaxy S24 \u2014 will get seven years of updates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple’s latest operating system \u2014 iOS 18 \u2014 is supported on all iPhones released from 2018, working to to six years of support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company also provides essential security updates for even older iPhones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while software update periods have been extended and consumers are keeping devices for longer before upgrading, major smartphone manufacturers’ warranties have remained the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For higher-end devices, the typical warranty period is two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple offers a 12-month warranty as standard on all new iPhones but retailers and mobile networks generally add another 12 months as a value-add included with the regular price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samsung’s warranty period for all smartphones is 24 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once these periods run out, factory faults or similar hardware issues are no longer covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember insurance <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Buyers could consider insuring their smartphones to reduce the financial risk of physically damaging an expensive piece of tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certain warranties may include repairs, but in general, they mainly cover repair or replacement for factory faults that were not caused by the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insurance can also significantly reduce how much you spend on screen repairs and case replacements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, although it will provide additional financial protection, insurance will increase the effective monthly cost of your device. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Naked Insurance charges between R78 and R489 to cover a Samsung Galaxy S22 256GB with an estimated value of R12,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the value of the smartphone, the premium is dependent on your chosen excess, which you will have to pay when you claim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower the chosen excess, the higher the monthly premium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to smartphones, the excess should probably not be more than the price of replacing a screen or battery, otherwise you will end up paying more for the claim than if you had paid for the repair or replacement in cash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below illustrates how the insurance premium for a two-year-old R12,000 smartphone changes based on the excess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excess<\/th>Monthly premium<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
R500<\/td>R489<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
R1,000<\/td>R281<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
R2,000<\/td>R161<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
R3,000<\/td>R117<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
R5,000<\/td>R78<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opting for a longer-term contract might make your preferred device cheaper on a monthly basis but could also create a significant financial burden. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":559723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17934],"tags":[97155,605,355,6845,91709,96966,42,645,41],"class_list":["post-562037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smartphones","tag-451-research","tag-apple","tag-cell-c","tag-cellphone-contracts","tag-galaxy-s24","tag-iphone-16","tag-mtn","tag-samsung","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562037"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562037"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":563910,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562037\/revisions\/563910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}