IDC specialists analyze the market not only for new smartphones, but also for used ones. In a new report, analysts reported sales on the secondary market at the end of 2023 of more than 195 million devices, either resold by users or undergoing the restoration procedure by the manufacturers themselves. In units, the secondary market for smartphones added 6.4%, and in money grew by 12.4%.
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From this point of view, the dynamics of the secondary smartphone market is ahead of the primary market, as IDC representatives note. The supply structure in the secondary market continues to improve as the number of used smartphones available increases and their quality improves at the same time. Since the dynamics of the primary market do not yet allow reaching pre-pandemic sales volumes, some market participants are trying to try their luck in the secondary segment.
However, the growth rate of the secondary smartphone market has slowed in recent years, helped in part by the trend towards longer average smartphone lifespans for consumers in most developed markets. For this reason, fewer premium models are hitting the secondary market in these regions. Trade-in programs cannot fully solve this problem.
The refurbished smartphone segment is generally more willing to accept more expensive device models for sale, since their higher cost helps justify the cost of refurbishment. In addition, refurbished smartphones sell better if they were originally released by a well-known manufacturer. Approximately 64% of the global used smartphone market is ultimately controlled by Apple and Samsung. Smaller manufacturers in more affordable price niches are yet to gain a foothold in this market.
However, even under current conditions, the used smartphone market should reach a capacity of 257 million units by 2028, demonstrating an average annual growth rate of 5.7%. In monetary terms, this figure will be 5.5% per year. By the way, over the same forecasting interval, the average annual growth rate of sales of new smartphones will not exceed 2.8%, according to IDC analysts.