Consumers around the world are increasingly seeing the benefits of buying refurbished smartphones. After all, this is an opportunity to purchase an iPhone or the same Samsung flagship at a lower price. For example, a few days ago, the South Korean giant began selling refurbished models of the Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra. The attractiveness of such devices is that they have been tested and repaired by the company’s specialists to the state of “like new”.
Analysts at Counterpoint Research, after analyzing the past year, concluded that sales of refurbished smartphones grew by 15% compared to 2020. And this is happening against the background of the fact that the market for new mobile devices; over the past year showed growth of 4.5%. The increase in sales was achieved, not least due to the growth in demand for 5G smartphones. Someone preferred to purchase a new model, but there were also those who decided to save a little and bought a refurbished device.
Commenting on the growth in pre-owned and refurbished volumes, Senior Analyst Glen Cardoza said, “Refurbished smartphones are a part of overall pre-owned devices which re-enter the system through various routes. Trade-ins are the fastest-growing source for such pre-owned smartphones, the volume of which grew more than 10% globally in 2021. We are seeing a YoY increase in volumes among refurbished players in developing markets like China, India, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. These markets will grow more as they have many unorganized businesses and a large rural demographic yet to be captured. ASPs (average selling prices) of refurbished smartphones increased marginally as 4G devices still retained value.”
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Users are increasingly willing to switch to refurbished smartphones
The most active purchases of refurbished smartphones were in Latin America; where growth was 29% against the background of sales in 2020. In second place was India with a 25% increase, and in third was the United States with 15%. China remains the largest market in the world. Against the backdrop of growing demand for remanufactured devices, manufacturers will begin to actively engage in this area. At the moment, the undisputed leaders here are Apple and Samsung.
Latin America and India lead with the highest growth rates, at 29% and 25% respectively. Even the US, China and Europe regions have shown a strong growth in volumes from 2020. Research Director Jeff Fieldhack said, “The India and LATAM markets saw the highest growth rates in 2021 and also have the highest future potential growth over the next few years. There were supply shortages in the secondary market in 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdowns and other supply chain disruptions. But the market roared back in 2021. There are large consumer appetites for flagships and the latest flagships have the highest point-of-sale prices in India and LATAM. The secondary market offers consumers the ability to access these devices at ASPs 60% lower than new versions. The improved durability and high quality of flagships make them very appealing in the secondary market”
