T-Mobile's marketing strategy to attract Americans to buy the iPhone 5 is paying off. Reports said lines have started to form at the fourth largest U.S. carrier when it offered consumers the best-selling Apple smartphone over the weekend for $99.

Besides the $99 payment, buyers would also pay $20 to cover the balance, but T-Mobile is giving away the phone for free for those who are switching carriers and bringing a gadget for trade in. The offer also does not tie-up the buyer to a two-year contract.

T-Mobile was the last major U.S. carrier to sell the iPhone, which would bring in an additional 26.1 million Apple subscribers that would add to the company's dominance of the smartphone market in the U.S. amid stronger competition from rival Samsung's Galaxy S4.

The picking-up sale of the iPhone 5 would help T-Mobile's finances which reported a 5.2 per cent decline year-to-year and 25 per cent cut in operating income as thousands of subscribers shifted to other carriers, resulting in the company ditching the traditional two-year contract.

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