Second-hand and refurbished phone market takes flight amid inflation hike
- Reference: 1673361910
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/01/10/idc_secondhand_phones_sales_bright_spot_in_crappy_phone_market/
- Source link:
The unit growth for those 12 months is some 11.5 percent higher than the prior year, and IDC number-crunchers have calculated compound annual growth of 10.3 percent until 2026 when shipments are forecast to reach 413.3 million.
Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Phone Tracker, said the used market grew off the back of a 6.1 percent rebound in sales of new phones in 2021.
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"Used devices demonstrate more resilience to market inhibitors than new smartphone sales as consumer appetite remains elevated in many regions," he said.
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"Attractive price points are critical for growth as cost savings remain the primary benefit," Scarsella added. "However, a high-end inventory struggle due to elongated refresh cycles in the new market has used prices growing 11 percent in 2022."
North America was calculated to have shipped 73.5 million smartphones last year with the other 209.1 million devices sold into channels across the rest of the globe.
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Trade-in programs continue to be the major catalyst for both new and used phone sales via telco and retail sales channels, speeding up refresh cycles in the US, Canada and Western Europe. Higher sales of more premium phones last year has also created a circular effect, as trade-ins feature mostly on their tier of device.
[5]Product release cycles are killing the environment, techies tell British Computer Society
[6]Hardware makers criticized for eco double standards
[7]Brit MPs to Apple CEO: Please stop ignoring our questions about repairability and the environment
[8]Teardown shows Apple iPhone 14 Pro is not pro-repair
[9]Letter to FCC: Why are US carriers locking handsets to networks?
IDC said that how long these “aggressive” trade-in offers last will be a “big question for buyers and sellers.” It warns that narrow margin on these used and refurbished phones will, ultimately, dent the profitability of the vendors and resellers flogging them.
The backdrop to this is rising inflation and a looming global recession which has meant that many consumers and businesses are less cash-rich than they were at any point in recent years.
The new smartphone market has shrunk for five consecutive quarters up to and including calendar Q3 in 2022. The economics of buying a new phone simply don't stack up for many people.
The silver lining to the expansion of the used phone market is perhaps environmental benefit: in the US alone, [10]hundreds of thousands of smartphones are binned each day , so expanding the life of these devices can only be seen as a positive move.
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This might be helped by a [12]Right To Repair movement … if only everyone could get behind the legislation as it was intended. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y72ZrvQR5moz66ykplbCcQAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/27/product_release_cycles/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/20/sustianability/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/15/brit_mps_letter_to_apple_ewaste/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/27/apple_iphone_14_pro_repairs/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/20/fcc_phone_locking_public_knowledge/
[10] https://pirg.org/campaigns/right-to-repair/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y72ZrvQR5moz66ykplbCcQAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/30/new_york_repair_bill/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Back Market
For a couple of years now, refurbished seller Back Market has been my first stop for phones. Recommended.
https://www.backmarket.com/
Re: Back Market
I agree. I used them to replace a smashed 5 year old phone. It looked brand new and after 3 months no issues . For me me it was a very good deal.
Re: Back Market
Yes, just used Back Market for a couple of Christmas purchases, 30±% of the original cost if I'm not mistaken. Still have a few weeks to return the items too!
Wait on buying new
If you wait a few months after a phone's introduction you can often find pretty good discounts. Buying used means you don't know if the previous owner abused the battery.
Re: Wait on buying new
Batteries can be replaced (in most models) if you have the right know-how, which I imagine would be a key element of refurbishment. The bigger issue that I see is a lack of security updates, but I can envision a wily entrepreneur reloading Android phones, at least, with an AOSP build such as Lineage and then reselling them with an extended support or warranty plan, which would extend their lives even further.
It used to be that there was a benefit to upgrading.
Not so much any more the iPhone 6S at the "bottom" of the family hand me down ladder is still working just fine, and getting security updates.
My issue is that the 6S, the 7 and the 8 all look like they'll run out of support at the same time.
What do people with "high-end" phones, except bragging of course?
They probably stick them up their bum, knowing someone is about to call, ensuring vibrate is on.
Re: Bum
Or put it in your preferred trouser pocket and call it from your desk phone.
I had a friend who used to do that.
Drugs and alcohol powered
Good percentage of the used market is powered by people getting contract phones and then selling them immediately to feed their drug/alcohol habit.
That seems to be never addressed.
Re: Drugs and alcohol powered
I am genuinely interested to know: is that a significant percentage of used phones?
While I am all for reusing perfectly good tech such as second hand phones, as i am myself running Lineage on a 6 year old Oneplus phone as my daily driver, and will continue to do so while 3rd parties offer software for it, there is an issue in the Android ecosystem of handsets only a couple of years old no longer getting software updates or security patches.
And unless Google can finally get it working so they can push out all the security patches without the manufacturers involvement or device makers provide boot loader unlocking at the end of their software support so that 3rd party ROMs such as Lineage can be installed, there will be lots of places selling second hand phones using outdated versions of Android with unpatched security vulnerabilities, and unknowing buyers could be putting their data at risk buying them.
Of course this is also a problem with iOS devices outside of the software support as well, but credit to Apple they do provide updates for a reasonable amount of time compared to a lot of Android phones.
If it stops Google breaking shit
Went to use Google Translate on my phone for the first time in a while. I wanted to point it at a box for a live translate. You know - like it used to.
Oh, no. Turns out it's been "improved" and you need to take a fucking photo and send it to Google Lens.
Fuck that. I installed a Jan 2021 version which still worked.
Since my Sony Flip Phone the only "improvements" to cell phones have benefitted the vendors and their ability to monetize my data.