China Refurbished Smartphone Market Size

China Refurbished Smartphone Market Analysis

The China Refurbished Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.51% during the forecasted period of 2022 to 2027. The significant increase in disposable incomes and the rise in online gaming have been major reasons consumers adopt premium smartphones. Moreover, technological advancement has further increased the demand for upgraded specifications. However, such specifications come with higher costs, and consumers often exchange their existing smartphones with upgraded used or refurbished premium models against lucrative buyback value.

• An increase in the upgrade cost has been one of the prominent reasons for the market's growth. An increase in the prices of premium smartphones has led to multiple consumers holding on to their phones much longer than expected. However, at the same time, this factor has also raised the average selling price of a pre-owned device.
• According to a report published in July 2021 by Zhuanzhuan Group, Apple is one of the prominent market players in the used smartphones category in China, which controls approximately 36.53% of the secondary market for smartphones. Further, the company was followed by regional giants such as Xiaomi with a market share of around 13.88% and closed the top three with Vivo, around 12.7%.
• Moreover, a higher percentage of refurbished devices are being sold with warranties. These phones can be insured with proof of purchase, which is significantly helping in overcoming consumer hesitancy towards the purchase of refurbished devices. For instance, Samsung offers certified pre-owned devices at heavy discounts. The main advantage of directly buying from Samsung is that consumers get a full one-year warranty, which is offered on a new product.
• The factor that may affect the market in the coming years is the evolution of the 5G network. Most smartphones have a minimum life of 24 months and can be used up to 5 years. However, with the emergence of the 5G network in the market, most of the 3G and 4G enables refurbished devices would be obsolete. It may, in turn, give rise to a huge pile of refurbished and used smartphones, which will be irrelevant in the developed nations as most of the population would be willing to follow the present technological trend of the market. For instance, according to a report by Zhuanzhuan Group, sales of used Honor devices increased by 88.34% in the Q2 of 2021. In general, the smartphone market grew by 10.76% in China compared to Q1 of 2021 since consumers are especially eager to buy devices with support for fifth-generation networks.
• The Covid-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the growth of industries worldwide due to nationwide lockdowns imposed in almost all the countries. The smartphone industry has also experienced economic changes due to the pandemic. As China is the global manufacturing center for most of these devices and components, and with similar trends on the demand side, the smartphone manufacturing industry has been adversely hit by delayed shipments and weakened development of next-generation products. Also, the region has been choked off by suppliers, workers, and logistics networks.