Samsung is about to launch a phone rental service

You want to buy a Samsung Galaxy S25 but your budget is limited. Or you simply want to try out the Samsung flagship smartphone to see what the experience is like. Good news for you: Samsung is planning to launch a rental service for existing Samsung Galaxy models on the market, giving users the opportunity to flexibly experience many different products without having to worry too much about the cost.

The first details of this ambitious plan emerged on stage at CES 2025. Samsung CEO and Vice President Han Jong-hee said the company plans to introduce the subscription service at this year's Galaxy Unpacked event, which is scheduled to take place in two weeks. The CEO said the service is expected to be called "AI Subscription Club" and will launch as early as next February. South Korea is likely to be the first market to pilot the service, before Samsung considers rolling it out to other potential markets.

It's unclear what the 'AI' in the service's name means, and it's not clear if it will be finalized. As for how it will work, the service will allow customers to pay a subscription fee for any phone they want and try it out before committing to the full price. It's unclear what the monthly fee will be, or whether there will be subscription tiers similar to streaming services like Netflix and Disney+. However, the subscription service will also apply to tablets.

Samsung's hardware leasing idea has some similarities to a program Apple has been trying to develop with the Apple Pay team since 2022, called Apple Pay Later. That project was later scrapped due to software issues and regulatory concerns.

Similarly, Google also tried to offer a Pixel phone rental subscription service called Google Pixel Pass, which also offered access to YouTube Premium and Google Play Pass, but was also canceled in 2023.

In fact, Samsung Electronics introduced a home appliance rental service for TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines in December last year. The service received a good response from the start, with subscribers accounting for 30% of home appliance sales at Samsung Stores in Korea just three weeks after its launch.

Lesley Montoya

Update 09 January 2025