Apple and Klarna Lease-to-Own: What Changes for Pricing in 2026

Updated October 28, 2026

A 256 GB iPhone 17 now costs €1,129 in Italy: €150 more than a year ago, with no technical changes. Apple found its answer: don't lower prices, spread them over time with Klarna.

Should an Italian company really pay attention to this Apple move?

Yes, because the lease-to-own model solves a problem many companies with premium products know well: a high price holds back purchases even when the customer wants the product. The Apple-Klarna strategy is a textbook case that applies to many industries.

On July 21, 2026, TechCrunch reported the official news: Apple and Klarna have signed a partnership to launch a lease-to-own program, meaning a lease with a final purchase option, for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Customers pay monthly installments and, at the end of the contract, they can own the device or swap it for a new model.

The program is called Apple Upgrade and launched in the US on July 28, 2026, with payments starting at $17.99 per month. Trade-in, trading in your old device, lowers the monthly payment even further.

What actually happened between Apple and Klarna?

Apple raised prices by up to 25% in 2026 and responded to the risk of losing customers with a flexible leasing program. Klarna brings its BNPL infrastructure and an established user base in Europe and North America.

The context matters. Apple raised the prices of all iPhones still on the price list in Italy with no technical changes: the 256 GB iPhone 17 went from €979 to €1,129 (+€150, about +15%). MacBook, iPad and Mac prices rose by up to 25%, driven by the rising cost of memory chips fueled by AI demand.

A hike like that, without a flexible payment alternative, would have pushed many customers toward Android or the refurbished market. Leasing is the answer: the price stays high (and the brand stays premium), but the monthly payment makes the purchase accessible to a much wider range of users.

Klarna is not just a payment intermediary. It's Europe's BNPL leader — Buy Now Pay Later, the system that lets you buy now and pay in installments, often interest-free. Bringing Klarna into the Apple ecosystem means reaching millions of users already used to this payment model, especially in Northern Europe and North America.

The Apple Upgrade program also includes the option to upgrade at the end of the contract, turning every customer into a repeat buyer with a predictable renewal cycle.

Who wins and who loses with this deal?

Apple keeps premium prices and volumes. Klarna gains visibility and transactions on a global brand. Consumers get access to expensive devices with manageable payments. Traditional retailers and Android manufacturers feel the most pressure.

The key point for anyone running ad campaigns: Apple didn't offer a discount. It changed the frame, meaning how the price is perceived. An iPhone at €1,129 is scary. The same iPhone at $17.99 a month feels like a streaming subscription.

This is the principle behind many of the most effective campaigns in automotive, B2B software and subscription services. Apple has applied it to consumer hardware on a global scale.

Three concrete scenarios: what changes for an e-commerce, a professional firm, and a manufacturing company?

The lease-to-own model changes the structure of the ad message and the logic of customer acquisition across very different industries.

Illustrative examples: numbers are meant to show the reasoning, they are not real customer data.

In all three cases, the ad message changes radically. You no longer sell the product: you sell access to the product. This moves the competitive comparison from the spec sheet to the monthly payment, a field where companies with a well-built financial model almost always win.

Anyone running Meta or Google campaigns knows that the full price in an ad often holds back conversions. Replacing it with the monthly payment, as many automotive brands already do, can improve click-through rate and lower cost per acquisition. To learn more about structuring these messages, see also our analysis on how to connect marketing KPIs to revenue data.

Why is BNPL relevant for Italian companies right now?

BNPL in Italy reached €9.9 billion in transaction volume in 2025, up 45% in a year. It's no longer a niche: 17% of Italians already use it.

Data from the Osservatorio Innovative Payments of Politecnico di Milano show growth without precedent in Italian digital payments. The online component of BNPL is growing 50% year over year.

According to Banca d’Italia data reported by Sky TG24, BNPL use among Italian households rose from 4% in 2022 to 30% in 2025. The average amount per installment plan is around €200: still far from Apple devices, but the culture of paying in installments is consolidating fast.

Across Europe, BNPL already accounts for 9% of e-commerce transactions, according to the Global Payment Report 2025 cited by capitalist.it. Italy is still below the European average (5%), but the gap is closing. Germany and Sweden, where BNPL exceeds 20% of online transactions, show where the Italian market could be heading in the coming years.

What tools and models exist to apply this logic to my business?

There are at least three paths: integrate a BNPL provider into your e-commerce store, set up an operating lease for B2B products, or work on the ad message without changing your sales model.

The right choice depends on average ticket size, purchase cycle and the company's financial structure. An e-commerce store selling electronics can integrate Klarna or Scalapay in a few days. An industrial machinery maker needs an agreement with a leasing company, but the competitive advantage is far greater because competitors rarely do it well.

The ad message is separate from the financial structure. Even without changing anything in your sales model, communicating the monthly payment of financing that's already available can improve campaign performance. It's one of the most underrated levers in marketing and ad performance for high-value products.

Which rules and risks do I need to keep an eye on?

BNPL is under the scrutiny of European authorities: a new EU directive imposes transparency obligations and creditworthiness checks. If you use it as a marketing lever, you need to know the limits.

Banca d’Italia has sent a clear signal: BNPL's rapid growth brings risks of over-indebtedness, especially among younger consumers. The new European Consumer Credit Directive (CCD2) extends protections to BNPL products, requiring creditworthiness assessments and stricter disclosure obligations.

For companies integrating BNPL into their e-commerce, this means two practical things: first, the chosen provider must comply with European regulations; second, the ad message can't hide the total cost of the product. Communicating only the installment without showing the full price and contract terms is a practice the authorities are monitoring.

How do you get started: steps to apply this logic to your business

Start by analyzing your average ticket and purchase cycle, then choose the model that fits best and test your ad message before changing your financial structure.

What mistakes are most common when trying to replicate this model?

The most common mistake is using installments as a shortcut to sell products the market doesn't want at full price. Lease-to-own only works if the product already has strong positioning.

Apple can afford to do this because the brand is worth it. A product without clear positioning doesn't become desirable just because you can pay in installments. Installments lower the barrier to entry; they don't build desire.

The second common mistake is not factoring the BNPL provider's cost into the selling price. Klarna and its competitors charge the merchant (the seller) a fee: if you don't include it in the price, it eats into your margin. For a low-margin e-commerce store, this can turn an opportunity into a problem.

How do I know if the strategy is working for my business?

The signals to monitor are conversion rate, cost per acquisition and average order value: if installments lower the barrier, all three should improve.

Track these indicators alongside your campaign analysis. An ad that brings more clicks but fewer qualified conversions isn't working: it's attracting people who can't afford the product even in installments. That's a sign your positioning needs rethinking before the financial lever.

If you run campaigns across multiple channels, the topic ties into correct conversion attribution. The analysis of how the Meta Pixel counts conversions is a useful starting point to avoid mismeasuring the results of these campaigns.

The refurbished market: a side effect worth considering?

Lease-to-own speeds up the device renewal cycle and fuels the refurbished market. For companies operating in this space, it's a real opportunity.

Almost 1 in 5 Europeans (18%) already use a second-hand smartphone, according to the Recommerce Barometer 2026 by Recommerce Group and Kantar. 37% of Europeans sold their previous device in the last 12 months, up 4 points from the year before.

A lease-to-own program like Apple Upgrade, which includes trading in your old device, puts a steady flow of used devices in good condition on the market. For refurbishers, and also for those selling accessories or support services, this is a sourcing and customer channel that will grow in the coming years.

For Italian companies that sell refurbished devices or run trade-in programs, the message is clear: Apple's lease-to-own isn't just a competitive threat, it's also an accelerator for the market they operate in. Those who position themselves well in this segment, with targeted campaigns and a clear offer, can benefit from the flow of used devices the Apple program will generate. The topic of product discovery through AI, covered in the article on AI discovery and reviews, matters for refurbished sellers too: AI is becoming an increasingly popular product search channel.

Is this model worth adopting for your business?

Worth it if you have a product with strong positioning, a high average ticket (>€500) and a high price-related abandonment rate. BNPL or leasing can lower the barrier to entry without touching the brand's perceived value.

A middle ground: your product's positioning is still being built or your ticket falls in the €200-500 range. It's worth testing the "installment" message in your campaigns before integrating a BNPL provider: measure the impact on CPA and on the quality of the customers you acquire.

Not yet if you sell low-priced commodities, have very tight margins or your customer doesn't see price as the main barrier. In that case, the financial lever won't solve the problem and adds operational complexity.

How we see it at SHM

For us, the Apple-Klarna move is a useful reminder: technology and finance are means, not ends. Lease-to-own works because Apple spent decades building a brand people truly want. The monthly installment lowers the barrier, but it doesn't create desire.

We believe many Italian companies have valuable products and services they struggle to communicate effectively. Before working on the financial lever, it's worth asking whether your positioning is clear and whether your ad message truly explains why that product is worth its price.

When we work on our clients' campaigns, whether Google Ads campaigns or Meta campaigns, the first step is always figuring out where the purchase journey breaks. Sometimes it's the price. Often it's the message. Almost always it's both. Apple's strategy also reminds us that media buying is changing: as the analysis of AI agents that buy ads explains, the way media is planned and bought is transforming fast, and those who don't keep up risk playing by outdated rules.

If you want to find out whether and how to apply this logic to your business, write to us: we always start from data, not trends.

Frequently Asked Questions

A monthly payment doesn't sell mediocre products: it lowers the barrier to products the market already wants.