The smartphone trade is in fixed movement, formed by the newest expertise launches, shifting provide chains, and a mixture of international financial elements. These adjustments don’t simply influence new system gross sales, they’ve a direct impact on the thriving secondary market, the place demand for inexpensive and high-quality pre-owned units is rising quickly.
On this B-Inventory Q&A, we join with Joe Dube, Director of Cell Accounts, to get his perspective on the present panorama of the pre-owned cell market, what tendencies he anticipates within the yr forward, and a few private insights from his journey within the trade.
Should you needed to sum up in a single phrase, how would you describe the present state of the pre-owned cell market proper? Why?
Maturing.
The pre-owned cell market is getting into a brand new part of sophistication and scale. Stakeholders now acknowledge the immense alternative within the secondary market, and we’re seeing speedy developments in how units are sourced, assessed, and offered. Commerce-in applications are extra strong than ever, grading and triage processes have develop into more and more exact and environment friendly, because of improvements like AI-powered diagnostics and automatic inspection programs, and carriers and OEMs are leveraging knowledge and analytics to optimize pricing and channel technique, maximizing restoration and minimizing threat.
This maturation is clear throughout the availability chain: from improved refurbishment requirements and client belief in pre-owned units, to the rise of licensed applications and better deal with sustainability. The market isn’t just growing-it’s evolving, with each hyperlink within the provide chain changing into extra analytical, technology-driven, and centered on extracting the best attainable worth.
Any knowledge factors or tendencies take you without warning in Q1?
Essentially the most important development in Q1 was a return to market normalcy. We noticed commonplace month-to-month depreciation charges within the 2–4% vary, with no main pricing swings or surprising shifts. In distinction to final yr, when the market noticed unusually sturdy pricing and fewer depreciation, significantly over the summer time months, in Q1 pricing adopted a extra typical sample of gradual depreciation, reflecting a extra steady setting.
What can be your primary piece of recommendation/or message for OEMs and carriers proper now?
My high piece of recommendation for OEMs and carriers is to take a really end-to-end method to the secondary market. It’s not nearly offloading pre-owned devices-it’s about understanding and optimizing each step of the method. Partnering with the fitting specialists at every stage is important; the standard of your companions instantly impacts the worth you may get better, your model fame, and your skill to scale sustainably. By investing in sturdy, data-driven partnerships, you’ll maximize the lifetime worth of your units and place your group for long-term success.
You have been just lately the recipient of a “Execs to Know” award. Do you have got any ideas you’d prefer to share?
I used to be actually honored to be acknowledged as a 2025 Professional to Know. The award displays the revolutionary, data-driven method B-Inventory brings to the cell secondary market and the resale ecosystem. With the pre-owned cell market outpacing the expansion of the first market, and with developments in trade-in and resale applied sciences, we’re uniquely positioned to assist wi-fi carriers and OEMs maximize worth and prolong system lifecycles. We allow our companions to navigate a quickly maturing market and unlock new alternatives for tens of hundreds of thousands of pre-owned units.
What would you say to your youthful self simply getting began on this trade?
I’d inform myself that no person has all of it figured out-even the most important of firms aren’t all the time absolutely optimized. There’s all the time room to enhance, study, and develop. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t simply accept realizing how issues are done- dig just a little deeper to know the why. That curiosity will provide help to see alternatives others may miss and make an actual distinction as you develop in your profession.
Trying forward, should you needed to record your high 5 ‘issues to observe for’ as an trade in 2025, what would they be?
Trying forward, I feel there are a number of key tendencies set to form the pre-owned cell market. First, the influence of latest and proposed tariffs on imported electronics may considerably increase costs for lower-grade units and elements, significantly these coming from main commerce companions like China. This might speed up a shift towards extra home refurbishment and restore operations within the U.S., as firms search for methods to manage prices and decrease provide chain disruptions. If tariffs do drive up costs for brand new and imported units, we will anticipate to see elevated demand for restore companies and a renewed deal with getting essentially the most worth out of units already in circulation.
On the similar time, the adoption of robotics and AI is reworking how units are processed, triaged, and graded. Automated programs are making evaluations quicker, extra constant, and extra exact, which helps enhance each effectivity and restoration charges. This development is prone to proceed, with robotics enjoying a much bigger function in each stage of the secondary market, from consumption to refurbishment.
We’re additionally seeing the trade transfer past primary “buff and polish” beauty fixes. There’s now a a lot better emphasis on substantial repairs and complete refurbishment, pushed by each client expectations and sustainability objectives. Consumers need high quality and affordability, and sellers are responding with increased refurbishment requirements and authorized applications that construct belief and command higher costs.
Unique gear producers, or OEMs, are additionally taking a extra energetic function within the secondary market. They’re investing extra in trade-in applications, grading requirements, and resale channels, and by managing extra of the method themselves, they’re in a position to maximize the residual worth of their merchandise. That is all a part of the broader trade maturation, as everybody concerned turns into extra analytical and strategic about extracting worth at each step.
And, lastly, client demand for pre-owned and refurbished units continues to rise, fueled by environmental considerations and the growing value of latest units. Because the market grows, we’ll see much more innovation in round financial system fashions, with firms making recommerce a core a part of their sustainability technique.
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For a more in-depth take a look at our most up-to-date cell secondary market pricing knowledge and tendencies of particular top-performing fashions over Q1 2025, view our newest version of the B-Inventory Cell Insider.
