Apple sales now make up nearly half of all refurbished phone sales worldwide

With the rising cost of living and sustainability efforts in full swing, the global smartphone market has struggled to attract new sales.

Taking full advantage of the trend is a refurbished smartphone industry that’s been steadily growing quarter after quarter – and now, new research is showing Apple as a surprising winner in this new category.

Market research firm Counterpoint Research recently released its latest report in which it states that 49% of the secondary smartphone market falls on Apple. The Cupertino giant’s sales in the refurbished smartphone category grew by 16% year-on-year, compared to 2021, to become the fastest-growing brand in the sector, having had 44% of the market in 2021. 

India pushing forward

Helping propel Apple forward is India, a country in which the growth in the sale of refurbished iPhones is palpable: “Apple is a highly aspirational brand in India, and refurbished iPhones give further a lower entry point to these aspirational users in Apple’s ecosystem,” Tarun Pathak, research director, Counterpoint, told TechCrunch.

At the moment, india holds about 15% of the global refurbished smartphone market, he added. But it’s seen a 19% growth year-over-year. As a whole, the market grow 5% this year, compared to 2022. Latin American market grew 18% year-on-year.

The growth could have been even bigger, the publication states, if the sales of refurbished phones in China didn’t drop by 17%. The decline was mostly due to the resurgence of Covid-19 and the subsequent setup of Covid-zero policies, Counterpoint Research says. 

The global inflation, triggered by Covid-19 and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, has singificantly increased the prices of all things, smartphones included. At the same time, the push towards a more sustainable future is the strongest it’s ever been, motivating consumers to move away from new devices and into refurbished phones. Apple is doing a good job tapping into that market, the researchers are saying, with a one-year warranty on the battery and the outer shell for such devices, as well as software support that lasts years.  

Apple also has different sustainability-oriented initiatives that make iPhones an attractive device.

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Via: TechCrunch