Microsoft Retail Stores to Add iPhone to Trade-In Program, Offer at Least $200

Following news that Microsoft would be accepting trade-ins for Apple iPads at its various retail stores, Forbes is now reporting that the company will add the iPhone to the promotion, offering consumers a minimum of $200 for an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 in select Microsoft stores in the U.S. and Canada.

According to an inside source at Microsoft, Microsoft Stores will begin giving a minimum $200 in-store credit for iPhones on Friday as part of its “#timetoswitch” campaign, obviously hoping consumers will use the cash to buy a Windows Phone. For the past few weeks, Microsoft has been running a similar trade-in campaign enabling consumers to “trade-in” iPads for cash to encourage consumers to buy Microsoft’s Surface tablets.

Microsoft has been aggressively trying to compete with Apple in both the phone and tablet market in recent months, with the company posting and later removing anti-Apple Windows Phone videos along with launching Lumia 925 advertisements bashing the iPhone’s camera features, The company has also been running a number of anti-iPad television advertisements while also cutting prices to spur sales of its tablet devices. Earlier this week, Microsoft unveiled its second generation of Surface tablets, with shipments set to begin on October 22.