Multiple Factors Drive Growth in $25B Secondary Mobile Device Market

An excerpt from our whitepaper, ‘The Secondary Smartphone Market REVolution’

2021 will be a breakthrough year for 5G adoption. This is great news for everyone working in the secondary handset market.

Why?

Because every consumer that upgrades to 5G will have a 4G phone to recycle – and an army of aspiring 4G subscribers will be waiting to buy them.

According to a study by data security company, Blancco, 68 percent of 5G customers say they will trade in their used devices. As a result, 810 million smartphones could be released into the refurbished market.

5G is just the latest factor fuelling demand for used devices. Others incentives include:

• Rising prices for premium smartphones
  Top-end devices are out of reach for many. When the iPhone X launched at $1000, it triggered a surge in demand for premium used devices.
• Longer upgrade cycles
  Phones are more reliable than ever, which means they retain their resale value for longer. Today, the average price for a secondary market phone is $360.
• The Right-to-Repair movement
  Across the world, lawmakers are launching regulations to make it easier for customers to repair products – and for manufacturers to extend guarantees. This is extending product lifecycles.
• Growing markets for recycled phones in developing countries
  As 4G reaches more regions, customers are moving on from feature phones. This is fuelling a market for affordable smartphones.
• Rising demand from credit excluded customers
  Every market includes a segment of customers who cannot get credit and are therefore unable to take advantage of carrier repayment deals on new phones.

Carriers have embraced the new market dynamics. They understand that ‘certified pre-owned’ (CPO) handsets can complement their subsidy plans, giving their customers more flexible upgrade options. As a result, many Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have increased the focus on this market opportunity. They have created ‘asset monetisation’ teams that actively promote CPO devices online and in-store.

Thanks to the above factors, the secondary market its booming. Here are the key figures from IDC:

How we’re addressing it

REV is Ingram Micro’s response to the surging pre-owned device market. Human operators can use one REV machine to test and grade up to 480 devices per hour, improving the industry average by 10x.

If you are working in the secondary handset or mobile diagnostics, we’d love to hear from you! To find out more about REV, please visit www.ingrammicroservices.com/REV