alexalex Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Secondary iPhone Market a Boon for AT&T, Verizon ? and Apple, Too Where do old iPhones go to die? Some are thrown away. Others are forgotten. Still others are passed on to children and become iPods. But many find a new life with a new owner. Turns out that the secondary market for the iPhone is nearly as robust as the primary market. And it?s growing steadily larger and more important for Apple?s carrier partners, and for Apple itself. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) recently surveyed the secondary iPhone market in the U.S. and found it to be thriving. Since the Oct. 14, 2011, debut of the iPhone 4S, 53 percent of new iPhone buyers have introduced their old phone into the secondary market. Of those, 49 percent were iPhones, 21 percent were BlackBerrys and 15 percent were Android devices. Why does the secondary market skew so heavily toward the iPhone? ?We think the secondary market for the iPhone is more established, since iPhone has the longest track record for a single device/platform, and for many it is the aspirational entry-point smartphone,? CIRP co-founder Mike Levin told AllThingsD. ?IPhones also had the advantage of having a useful second life as iPod touch substitutes, which made their used value a little clearer from the start. As a GSM phone, AT&T iPhones also could be [unlocked] for use on other GSM networks, so there was an early secondary market for iPhones on other carriers ? though this was, of course, limited to more savvy and aggressive technology consumers.?... http://allthingsd.com/20120117/secondary-iphone-market-a-boon-for-att-verizon-and-apple-too/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo1911 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Does AT&T unlock old iPhone models? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey13 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 On the other hand it could be that the iPhone is slower developing and overpriced. Not that much progress in the 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4s. Coupled with a high price means that they retain a value. Where as the android platform and market are moving and changing so (or too?) fast that older models have no value. So people just bin them. Just to be clear before people start wading in with "you are such an anti-apple android fan boy". I'm not saying either of these things are good or bad just that I think that this has more to do with it rather than it's "longest track record for a single device/platform". Which to me is just another way of saying it hasn't changed all that much in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vice Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Although this is interesting (The large 2nd hand market) what I find more interesting is just how long iPhones stay functional. They are built very well with very little moving parts that wear out. I suppose that is part of the clever simplicity of it. I know someone with an original 8GB iPhone that still works he uses it just as an iPod Touch now for music since he upgraded to a Samsung S II but you can see how they last. I wonder what the situation will be in 2017 a decade after the original iPhone launched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnast Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Good thing I went ahead and read the whole article. Although at first glance it seemed useful, I realized "Table 1" didn't actually compare the secondary markets of iPhones vs. phones from other mobile OSs (amongst other things wrong with the chart) and I almost went on a mini-rant. :laugh: Tables aside, Apple products have been pretty consistent in regards to second hand value. That's been pretty much a given for quite some time, now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahorsepip Veteran Posted February 1, 2012 Veteran Share Posted February 1, 2012 interesting that there are more gift then sold ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadrack Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Does AT&T unlock old iPhone models? I don't think so... since there are no laws requiring them to, I don't know why they would. Anyway, the only other service provider in the US for an unlocked iPhone from AT&T would be T-Mobile. T-Mobile has better plan rates, but there wouldn't be any 3G. Only 2G data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Old iPhones don't die They do when I take a hammer to them. :shifty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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