Customers are increasingly reaching for refurbished iPhone models, at the expense of newer models

The American Wall Street Journal has published an analysis in which it deals with the trend of buying refurbished iPhones that Apple officially offers in Western markets. These are devices that have undergone official service and are sold at a discounted price, as "used" (referred to as refurbished in English), but still with a full warranty. As it turns out, more and more interested parties are reaching for these cheaper variants, because the purchase of such a model is often very advantageous. However, this may hurt the sales of hot new items to some extent, which may be a problem in the long run.

Analysis he claims, that more and more customers are going the route of the so-called refurbished models. These are primarily discounted models from the previous generation, which are sold at a very nice price. The customer thus avoids the inflated prices of current models, but at the same time pays an even lower price for the already usually discounted previous generation. Interest in these phones more than doubled last year on the American market.

One of the reasons may be the high price of current top models. The most striking example is the iPhone X, the price of which starts at 1000 dollars. However, the popularity of refurbished models is not limited to Apple phones. A similar trend is happening in the case of Samsung's high-end Galaxy S/Note series. The aforementioned analysis claims that refurbished phones account for roughly 10% of smartphone sales worldwide. 10% may not seem very significant, but it is necessary to realize that sales of refurbished phones usually only concern top models. In the context of cheaper phones, such an approach does not make much sense.

The growing popularity of these models may indicate a problem that manufacturers may face in the future. Due to the increasing performance of new machines, their "durability" is also increasing. A year old iPhone is definitely not a bad phone, in terms of performance and user comfort. Therefore, if customers are not primarily looking for new functions (of which there are fewer from year to year), the choice of older models does not particularly limit them in practice. ,

While increasing sales of refurbished phones can to some extent cannibalize sales of newer models, the better availability of older iPhones has its bright side (for Apple). By selling more affordable phones, Apple is getting closer to customers who would never buy a new iPhone. This expands the user base, a new user joins the ecosystem, and Apple makes money from it in a different way. Whether it's purchases via the App Store, Apple Music subscriptions or deepening integration within the ecosystem of Apple products. For many people, the iPhone is the gateway to the world of Apple.

Source: Appleinsider