A recent survey found that 68% of consumers would be willing to trade-in their used device at the point of 5G upgrade. The global survey among 5,000 global consumers was conducted by Blancco Technology Group, an international data security company.
According to the study, global consumers expect to receive, on average, 35 percent of the original purchase price for their old smartphone. 60 percent wanted assurances over the secure management of their data before handing over their old device.
Based on this number and looking at the total number of global smartphone users today, there could be as many as 810 million used devices collected at the point of 5G upgrade this year, said Blancco. This is good news for mobile operators, OEMs and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) who stand to gain significant additional revenue by unlocking the latent value in used smartphones – a market that, according to IDC, is set to be worth $67 billion in 2023.
Currently, the reality for operators and OEMs is that device buy-back and trade-in is just one reason why they might receive used smartphones from their customers. Other channels they must manage include diagnosing and processing devices received from warranty programs or repair requests, expiring lease deals or insurance claims.
Blancco said that the ability to receive and successfully process all these devices securely and efficiently, while preparing for a huge additional influx from buy-back programs will require careful planning and partner selection, particularly when evaluating these devices in preparation for resale.