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CCS Insight indicated a growing appetite for second-hand smartphones, with revenue from the segment hitting $13.3 billion Q1, up from $9.1 billion in the comparable period of 2022.
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The research company stated the second-hand sector booked sales growth of 14 per cent year-on-year, outpacing the market for new devices. It identified a high demand for second-hand flagship models being sold like new and an increasingly diversified range of sellers as key drivers of the growth.
Analyst Kane McKenna, said the secondary smartphone market is “constantly outpacing the equivalent new device market as better products become available from leading international brands”, with the iPhone 12 being the most sought-after product in the quarter.
While a cost-of-living crisis factored largely in the uptake of second-hand smartphones, a growing awareness of sustainability and device circularity also played a role.
However, CCS Insight cited supply as a negative factor, as the segment relied on consumer trade-ins instead of traditional supply chains. It named US as a market, which showed a “precarious lack of supply from other global markets.”
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