For the past month, online forums such as GenZIndia and TwentiesIndia on Reddit have been buzzing with discussions around the pros and cons of buying premium phones on a subscription-based model. The conversations indicate a considerable trust among Indians for buying high-end phones with subscriptions.
A user wishing to buy a high-end phone such as an iPhone 17, but also wanting to stay updated, can select the iPhone 17 on BytePe, Cashify or the iPhone website on a monthly subscription basis.
Until recently, this idea of a ‘rental phone’ was eyed with some amount of distrust by consumers. However, this has changed when platforms such as BytePe starting offering the service along with warranties, device protection add-ons and buy-backs. Users can now update their subscription phones with the latest model.
In the case of BytePe, the service is currently offered for Apple and Samsung flagship phones. According to Jayant Jha, founder of BytePe, the company has acquired over 1,000 customers in the first 100 days since its launch and reported a revenue CAGR of 700-800 per cent. Over 50 per cent of the consumers came from metros, with the top 20 cities accounting for 85 per cent of the demand.
“It has been a fairly good start. We have had over 1.5 million visitors on the website in the first 100 days. So, you can imagine the kind of traction that we see,” said Jha, adding that the company recently launched similar services for laptops and tablets following consumer demand. The initial traction for these devices looks promising, he said.
India’s smartphone market is shifting towards premiumisation, with smartphones in the over ₹30,000 bracket reporting double-digit y-o-y growth in 2025, said Counterpoint Research.
“Easier financing, longer EMI tenures, and rising willingness to spend on durable, high-performance devices are key drivers,” said Shubham Singh, Research Analyst at Counterpoint.
Replacement cycles of three years or more and improved affordability through zero-cost EMIs and exchange programmes are pushing upgrades towards higher price tiers. Singh expects the premium segment to sustain double-digit growth in 2026, driven by aspirations among young professionals and Gen Z.
Singh said subscription-based smartphones can work in India for premium users as they reduce upfront costs and appeal to consumers who upgrade often in metro cities. However, many Indian consumers view premium smartphones as long-term investments, limiting mass adoption of subscription models in the face of EMIs that continue to dominate smartphone purchases.
Security risks
Subscription-based phones, however, raise operational risks of data residue from incomplete wipes, account locks and lingering eSIM profiles, said Greyhound Research.
“Most consumers assume a basic reset is enough, and it often is not, especially when cached tokens, cloud sessions and device level entitlements persist. Activation locks, Google FRP locks and lingering eSIM profiles can turn a returned device into a brick for the next user, or create privacy leakage for the previous user,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst and Founder at Greyhound Research.
He also asked consumers to be mindful of remote controls and telemetry used by the service provider for loss prevention, compliance and collections. When asked, BytePe, too, told businessline that the company is currently reviewing its compliance measures for recent norms such as SIM-binding to address any potential regulatory blocks.
“The trust unlock for subscriptions is simple and far from glamorous: certified data wiping, auditable offboarding, clear return condition rules and transparent disclosure of remote management. If a provider cannot explain their wipe process and their handover discipline in plain language, then the service is not a subscription, it is a risk subscription,” he said
For the subscription model, SIM binding tightens the relationship between identity, SIM presence and app continuity, which reduces tolerance for sloppy handovers.
Published on January 7, 2026