Shipment of used smartphones, inclusive of both officially refurbished and used smartphones, is forecast to grow at 9.2 percent to 225.4 million units in 2020 from 206.5 million units in 2019.
Used smartphone shipments will reach 351.6 million units in 2024 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2 percent from 2019 to 2024, International Data Corporation (IDC) said. The market value of used smartphones will reach $65 billion in 2024.
Much of the 9.2 percent growth continues to be driven by mature markets in which trade-in emulates a form of subsidy to push consumers to upgrade. Over the past year, we have seen rapid growth in trade-in programs and average selling prices (ASPs) across numerous channels. Premium flagship offerings continue to rely on trade-in programs to make the upfront cost more affordable to consumers.
Vendors such as Apple, Samsung, and Huawei have implemented their own programs with aggressive trade-in offers compared with other channels. Telcos are using trade-in combined with bundling (family plans and services) to get consumers to turn over their old device and upgrade.
Though 2020 volume was not as large as expected, the used market still performed well compared with the new market, where IDC is expecting a 6.4 percent decline for smartphones for the year. “As with our previous forecast, we still expect to see double-digit growth during the forecast period, at an average of 11.8 percent,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
