Old iPhones don’t die
In fact, the great majority of them don’t fade away either. Well, perhaps eventually. It seems the great majority of old iPhones get passed to new owners who, in fact, activate and use them. A new study finds a thriving market for hand-me-down and second-hand Apple smartphones — anything’s better than an Android, right?
As we all know, no one tops Apple when it comes to smartphone buyer loyalty — nearly 9 of 10 people who own an iPhone will get another one. Yet, that’s only half of the story because of what happens to their old idevices, which aren’t being thrown away or landfilled.
Quoting data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), All Things D reports that iPhone used, second-hand market is about as vibrant as the one for new iPhones, contributing a lot of activations.
“We think the secondary market for the iPhone is more established, since iPhone has the longest track record for a single device/platform, and for many it is the aspirational entry-point smartphone,” said CIRP co-founder Mike Levin. “iPhones also had the advantage of having a useful second life as iPod touch substitutes, which made their used value a little clearer from the start. As a GSM phone, AT&T iPhones also could be [unlocked] for use on other GSM networks, so there was an early secondary market for iPhones on other carriers…”
But, enough talk, what are the numbers? Since the iPhone 4S went on sale mid-October last year, those buyers have been selling their previous handsets:
- • 53 percent of new iPhone buyers sold their old phone
• 49 percent were iPhones
• 21 percent were BlackBerries
• 15 percent were Android devices
However, CIRP dug even further into the phenomenon and discovered that 87 percent of old iPhone sellers believe the next user will activate on a wireless network. Further, the market researcher believes that up to 11 percent of daily iPhone activations are second hand.
Bad news for Apple?
Well, maybe, but only just a little.
“We think the secondary market is both detrimental and beneficial to Apple,” said Levin. “It hurts Apple because it creates competition for new iPhones, which we see in the relatively modest sales of reduced-price iPhone 4 and free iPhone 3G units. But it also benefits the company because used iPhone customers aspire to own the newest and best iPhone, so they are likely future new phone customers. In fact, they are likely new entrants to the Apple ecosystem, who otherwise would not have found a way in.”
That’s seriously powerful brand identity and loyalty…
What’s your take?
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January 21st, 2012
I sold my old iPhone 3G to a friend when I bought my iPhone 4, and she really liked it. A year later, I still have my iPhone 4 and my friend decides that they want to go after the new iPhone 4S. She still has the old iPhone and uses it as an iPod for her car, that way she doesn’t have to use her battery on her phone. I, as well as she are definitely loyal to Apple not because we are delusional or hypnotized as so many Phandroids would say, but because we have had a good experience with a phone that doesn’t freeze, still gets updates, and can be handed down after years of use.