CounterPoint Research has released a research report on the refurbished phone market.
For now, Apple remains the market leader in refurbished phones. According to the report, the best-selling products in the US used/refurbished market include the iPhone 8 series, iPhone 11 series, and iPhone XR series. However, the analysts also noted that the prices of these three 4G iPhone models have dropped by an average of 22 percent since the release of the iPhone 14 series, with only the refurbished iPhone 13 series increasing in price by an average of 11 percent.
They believe that demand for the refurbished iPhone Pro has been strong since the launch of the new iPhone 14 series, despite the fact that prices for older iPhone models are falling.
Counterpoint says that this is in part due to the development of 5G. Older phones that don’t support 5G are becoming cheaper, while refurbished 5G phones are becoming more popular. The report suggests that those buying refurbished 5G iPhones are using the money they saved by buying a “refurb” to buy a more expensive 5G package.
The analysis shows that the average price point (ASP) for a refurbished iPhone 8 series phone has fallen by 38 percent over this period, the average price for the iPhone X series has fallen by 23 percent and the average price for a refurbished iPhone 11 has fallen by 15 percent.
Refurbished prices for the iPhone 12 range, the first 5G-enabled iPhone model, have fallen by around 10 percent since the launch of iPhone 14, while refurbished phones in the iPhone 13 range have actually increased by 11 percent, as users have found iPhone 13 to be a better value.
Counterpoint calculated that the average U.S. consumer trade-in time is three years and seven months, limiting the length of time a phone can be held compared to figures from previous years.
They conclude that with the global economy weakening, consumers may be looking to save money by buying a refurbished iPhone 13 series rather than an iPhone 14 model. the Apple iPhone 14 base version is not a huge upgrade over the iPhone 13 series.
