Rogers discounts the 16GB iPhone 5 to $99.99 on a three-year term, but why now?

Conspiracy alert!

Rogers is dropping the price of the 16GB iPhone 5, in both white and black, to $99.99 on a three-year term, down $80 from its regular $179.99 price. Neither TELUS nor Bell have followed suit, but the writing is on the wall.

But why is Rogers dropping the price of a device that almost never goes on sale until a successor is about to be released? While this a rather slow period, caught between major phone releases, the company has few reasons to discount its likely most-popular device, especially not $80. But there it is, a cool hundred for the 16GB iPhone 5.

We’re certainly not taking this as proof of a new iPhone’s impending release, and we certainly can’t muster up the courage to suggest the iPhone 5 isn’t selling as well as the carrier would hope, but here it stands: Rogers is courting new and existing customers to sign three-year contracts. Perhaps it’s a move to alleviate some of the negative attention around the three-year contract itself; American carriers charge only $20 more for the equivalent iPhone 5 on a two-year term. Recently there has been raucous criticism thrown at Canadian carriers for attempting to normalize the high prices of devices, especially iPhones, with an extended contract. While most Android devices drop in contract price after some weeks or months on the market, it’s rare to see the iPhone go the same way.

We could be reaching here, and this could be nothing more than a short-term promo plan intended to boost sales in a slow quarter. Indeed, that’s likely what it is.

So, if you’re interested in buying an iPhone 5 16GB from Rogers, now is as good a time as any. The promo ends on March 18th.