Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, April 24 (Xinhua)-- Apple's iPhone refurbishment business has seen significant growth, with sales up 16% in 2022, increasing its share of the "second-hand smartphone" market to nearly 50%, according to the latest Counterpoint Research data.

Analysts at Counterpoint Research said this would make Apple the "fastest growing brand" in the world's used and refurbished smartphone market. For Apple, the impact is twofold: on the one hand, users have reduced the need for a new iPhone, but it has also increased the need for a variety of different subscription services.

Analysts point out that the global second-hand smartphone market grew 5 per cent year-on-year in 2022, with sales of refurbished smartphones in China falling 17 per cent, the biggest decline in China's second-hand market in years.

Regionally, India led the global market with a growth rate of 19 per cent in 2022, followed by Latin America with 18 per cent year-on-year growth.

In terms of brands, Apple's share of the refurbished smartphone market rose from 44 per cent in 2021 to 49 per cent in 2022. Samsung's market share fell from 28 per cent to 26 per cent and Huawei's market share fell from 4 per cent to 2 per cent. Other smartphone makers have been mediocre, including OPPO and vivo.

According to Counterpoint, the need to refurbish smartphones comes mainly from three aspects:

New smartphone buyers (mature markets)

Feature phone users switch to smartphones (emerging markets)

Second-hand trading channels dependent on C2C

The supply of refurbished smartphones mainly comes from three aspects:

Refurbished mobile phone retailers (fastest growing)

Operators have begun to provide refurbishment services, but mainly for mature markets.

OEM manufacturers are trying to recycle and refurbish smartphones.

Compared with previous years, a larger proportion of consumers choose to buy high-end and flagship refurbished machines, pushing up the average price of the secondary market.

According to Counterpoint Research, 1/3 of the iPhone sold in China in 2022 was iPhone 13, and Apple contributed more than 10% of smartphone sales in 2022.

Of course, Apple does not provide a refurbished iPhone in Greater China, and although domestic users recognize the value of iPhone, they only buy it through a variety of second-hand trading platforms.

According to Apple's US website, the iPhone refurbished models in the official store include four iPhone 13 series models, four iPhone 12 series models, and iPhone 11 models. However, the only models currently in stock are the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which starts at $839 (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 5789 yuan).

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