Many Profit from Mobile Trade In Programs
Despite the financial pressures that consumers felt in 2022 due to inflation, many were able to benefit from lucrative trade-in promotions when upgrading mobile phones.
Assurant, a publicly traded insurance and warranty organization, released its “2022 Mobile Trade-in and Upgrade Industry Trends Report” revealing a significant increase in online device trade-ins over recent years.
The report unveiled that an impressive sum was returned to customers via these campaigns, an enormous $3.8 billion, to be exact. Q4 2022, which is known for being the peak quarter for trade-ins, saw an even greater number at nearly $1.3B. Equating to a 22% increase over Q4 2021, with the total year seeing a 25% boost compared to 2021.
Assurant Purchases Hyla Mobile
Assurant’s strategic move last year was acquiring Hyla Mobile for $325 million, a reverse logistics business with phone trade-in programs catering to brand owners, retailers and wireless carriers. Every year Assurant produces a report detailing Hyla’s activities which have been consistently on the rise in recent quarters, despite or perhaps because of the pandemic.
Consumers are increasingly choosing to conduct trade-ins online, according to an Assurant press release.
Primary Devices Entering the Secondary Market
An analysis of Q4 2022 data showed that the iPhone 11 remained an incredibly popular device in trade-in and upgrade programs. Apple’s newest 5G devices, iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Max, were also among the top 5 most turned in smartphones since their launch two years ago.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 had been leading the Android market since Q3 2020, but during Q4 of last year, Google Pixel 6 took over as the number one traded-in device from Google.
The fourth quarter also saw the Apple Watch Series 7 holding the highest trade-in value amongst all wearables, with an average of $119.23. Coming close behind was the Apple Watch Series 6 at $69.56.
Average Trade-In Age Decreases
Research conducted in 2022 demonstrated that when it came to trading-in or upgrading, Apple iPhones had an average return age of 3.41 years, while Android smartphones were slightly less at 3.35 years.
Surprisingly, data collected during Q4 of 2022 suggested a departure from past trends with Android devices being traded in before their third birthday, for first time since 2021. This change represented a break from what had previously been a steady rise in device age.
A press release stated that “we did see a dip in the average age of devices at turn in during 4Q, as we normally do in the final quarter of the year.”
Further commenting that the data “reflects the great surge of activity we have witnessed this year within the mobile trade-in and upgrade programs.”
Online Transactions Jump
The pandemic has provoked a remarkable upsurge in online trade-ins, with each quarter registering increases compared to the previous quarter, and the same quarter of the preceding year. For example, last year’s fourth quarter saw an 8% rise in trade-ins over Q4 2021, as well as a 25% jump in trade-ins over Q3 2022.
For all of 2021 there was an impressive 38% surge, in contrast to 2020. Consumers appear to be increasingly drawn towards the comfort of initiating trade-ins online, though they can also opt for mailing devices or returning them directly to the service provider’s store. These figures are only expected to continually rise as time passes.
