Trade-in programs continue to be the driving factor for the new and used smartphone market globally. We have witnessed new programs launch successfully across multiple regional markets where trade-in is still a new concept for local consumers. Additionally, in mature markets such as the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe, trade-in continues to play a significant role in speeding up refresh cycles through telco and retail-driven promotions. This has contributed to an increase in trade-in value (TIV), which is typical when demand for new devices is slow. The rise in TIV has pushed prices up in the secondary market due to consumers getting more for their old devices to help drive upgrades.
IDC
Trade-in programs continue to be the driving factor for the new and used smartphone market globally. We have witnessed new programs launch successfully across multiple regional markets where trade-in is still a new concept for local consumers. Additionally, in mature markets such as the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe, trade-in continues to play a significant role in speeding up refresh cycles through telco and retail-driven promotions. This has contributed to an increase in trade-in value (TIV), which is typical when demand for new devices is slow. The rise in TIV has pushed prices up in the secondary market due to consumers getting more for their old devices to help drive upgrades.
The increased sale of higher-priced devices in the new market has also created a circular effect as many of these aggressive trade-in deals feature primarily on premium devices. How long these aggressive trade-in offers last remains a big question for buyers and sellers. Eventually, narrow margins will impact the overall profits of the channel, vendor, or perhaps both.
“The used market was able to grow 11.5% in 2022 thanks to the 6.1% rebound we witnessed in the new market for 2021,” says Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “Used devices demonstrate more resilience to market inhibitors than new smartphone sales as consumer appetite remains elevated in many regions. Attractive price points are critical for growth as cost savings remain the primary benefit. However, a high-end inventory struggle due to elongated refresh cycles in the new market has used prices growing over 11% in 2022.”
| Worldwide Used Smartphone Shipments (shipments in millions of units) | |||||
| Region | 2022 Shipments* | 2022 Market Share* | 2026 Shipments* | 2026 Market Share* | 2021-2026 CAGR* |
| North America | 73.5 | 26.0% | 103.9 | 25.1% | 10.8% |
| Rest of World | 209.1 | 74.0% | 309.4 | 74.9% | 10.1% |
| Total | 282.6 | 100.0% | 413.3 | 100.0% | 10.3% |
What We Think About Refurbished Phone Markets
Who is going to cut back on their smartphones? Not anyone who has one. The closest thing to a cutback in smartphone spending is buying a used phone. On the other hand, smartphones are never owned, they are just lease-to-buy products for all but a handful of buyers, so the trade-in market is a real boon for the phone companies who get to have their cake and eat it: that’s a perpetual cycle of premium phone payments that never stop because you can pretty much swap phones every year now.
It’s neither good news or bad news. Smartphones are integrated into almost every aspect of our lives. They are very, very expensive items if you had to pay for them upfront. But, a used smartphone that helps a lower tier consumer jump up a tier is like a whiff of a drug that gets you hooked so that you have nowhere to go but up.
We had about 1.2 billion new smartphones shipping worldwide in 2022. Which would imply that the used phone market represents about 20% of the total world market for all smartphones.
| OS | 2023 Shipments | 2023/2022 Growth | 2026 Shipments | 2026/2025 Growth | 5-Year CAGR |
| Android | 1036.9 | 3.1% | 1145.7 | 2.5% | 0.4% |
| iOS | 233.5 | 1.3% | 247.5 | 1.9% | 1.0% |
| Total | 1270.3 | 2.8% | 1393.2 | 2.3% | 0.5% |
