The refurbished mobile phone market is booming in 2021, with a year-on-year growth of 15%, exceeding the growth rate of new phones

     On the morning of April 22, data research firm Counterpoint reported that the second-hand refurbished smartphone market grew by 15% year-on-year in 2021, exceeding the 4.5% growth rate of the new smartphone market. Refurbished products are becoming increasingly popular among consumers and smartphone manufacturers.

　　Saving money is a big factor in people choosing refurbished phones over brand new ones - phones on the second-hand market are 60% cheaper than new phones on average. The two fastest growing markets are Latin America (+29%) and India (+25%).

　　Many manufacturers already support the trade-in method of selling new products to reduce the cost of purchasing new products for users, which in turn increases the source of refurbished products.

　　In addition to Latin America and India, the number of people buying refurbished phones is also increasing in mature markets such as the United States (+15%), Europe (+10%) and China (+10%). These markets may have some reasons for this, but there are more reasons than just that.

　　Sustainability and environmental initiatives are becoming more popular with consumers, and using refurbished phones instead of brand new ones is a great way to reduce e-waste. These initiatives are also gaining attention from manufacturers and carriers (although their main focus remains profitability).

　　“In the EU, government initiatives are helping secondary market sales. Operators are also working to use more secondary market devices to reduce e-waste goals. Finally, Back Market, which refurbishes and resells electronics, and EcoATM, a terminal that recycles old mobile phones, are good examples,” wrote research director Jeff Fieldhack.

　　Therefore, it is not just mobile phone manufacturers and operators, but also third parties that are expanding their refurbished mobile phone businesses. This is due to the growing "right to repair" movement in Europe, the United States and Japan, and some large companies are gradually opening up their spare parts channels.

　　In the refurbished mobile phone market, Apple's iPhone holds the top spot, but Samsung is also gaining popularity and closing the gap.