In September 2025, the US smartphone promotions panorama was aggressive, with carriers rolling out 960 offers throughout 12 promotion classes.
Commerce-in rebates and upgrade-with-trade affords had been the most typical techniques, reducing system prices when clients decide to long-term plans. Verizon led with 438 affords—almost double AT&T’s 232 and effectively forward of T-Cellular’s 188. Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy fashions dominated the highlight, showing in most of those affords.
Aggressive offers from carriers
Carriers like Verizon and T-Cellular used promotions closely to upsell clients to premium limitless plans. Verizon supplied particularly aggressive offers, specializing in massive trade-in credit (usually as much as $1,100 off flagship telephones like the brand new Apple iPhone 17) and bundling perks akin to free streaming subscriptions or devices for purchasers on premium plans.
T-Cellular equally tied its largest reductions (like as much as $1,100 off an Apple iPhone 17 Professional) to its high plan tiers, successfully locking clients in for 2 years. Each carriers’ methods purpose to spice up buyer lifetime worth by driving plan upgrades, a number of system strains, and long-term loyalty by means of these incentives.
AT&T’s method was extra balanced. It additionally leaned on trade-in credit with as much as $1,000 off new Apple iPhones (with an eligible trade-in), however made some extent to increase such offers equally to new and current clients. AT&T even relaunched as much as $800 in credit to cowl a switcher’s remaining system funds—eradicating a key barrier to switching.
By retaining promotion phrases easy and constant—akin to a flat low month-to-month worth for a brand new Samsung Galaxy S25 FE with no trade-in requirement—AT&T centered on constructing goodwill and long-term loyalty slightly than flashy one-time gimmicks.
Outlook
US carriers are doubling down on aggressive system offers to drive subscriber progress and better common income for “free” cellphone affords—albeit just for clients keen to stay with a premium plan for the lengthy haul.
The result’s a market stuffed with engaging offers for customers able to improve, although one which favours these on pricier plans. With Apple and Samsung capturing the lion’s share of offers, different cellphone makers could must forge stronger provider partnerships or particular offers to realize extra publicity.
Whereas flagship telephones traditionally drew probably the most consideration, carriers are strategically growing promotions on mid-tier and price range units to seize value-seeking customers. Not each buyer will go for a top-end $1,000+ handset, so offers like Verizon’s $200 reward card for mid-range upgrades or T-Cellular’s $5.99/month financing on the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE (with no trade-in) cater to extra price-sensitive segments.
Cable corporations are prone to observe the lead of their telco rivals and provide bundle units and repair for added worth and retention. Going ahead, all carriers should stability their zeal for brand new buyer acquisition with rewarding loyalty to make sure long-time subscribers really feel valued. Such stability can be key to decreasing churn and maximising returns from these expensive promotional campaigns.
