The smartphone business is in fixed movement, formed by the newest expertise launches, shifting provide chains, and a mixture of world financial components. These adjustments don’t simply impression new machine gross sales, they’ve a direct impact on the thriving secondary market, the place demand for reasonably priced 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 cellular market, what tendencies he anticipates within the 12 months forward, and a few private insights from his journey within the business.
Should you needed to sum up in a single phrase, how would you describe the present state of the pre-owned cellular market proper? Why?
Maturing.
The pre-owned cellular market is getting into a brand new section of sophistication and scale. Stakeholders now acknowledge the immense alternative within the secondary market, and we’re seeing fast developments in how units are sourced, assessed, and offered. Commerce-in applications are extra strong than ever, grading and triage processes have change into more and more exact and environment friendly, due to improvements like AI-powered diagnostics and automatic inspection methods, and carriers and OEMs are leveraging information and analytics to optimize pricing and channel technique, maximizing restoration and minimizing danger.
This maturation is clear throughout the availability chain: from improved refurbishment requirements and shopper belief in pre-owned units, to the rise of licensed applications and larger deal with sustainability. The market is not only growing-it’s evolving, with each hyperlink within the provide chain changing into extra analytical, technology-driven, and centered on extracting the very best doable worth.
Any information factors or tendencies take you unexpectedly in Q1?
Probably the most important pattern in Q1 was a return to market normalcy. We noticed customary month-to-month depreciation charges within the 2–4% vary, with no main pricing swings or surprising shifts. In distinction to final 12 months, 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 surroundings.
What can be your primary piece of recommendation/or message for OEMs and carriers proper now?
My prime piece of recommendation for OEMs and carriers is to take a really end-to-end strategy 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 appropriate consultants at every stage is important; the standard of your companions straight impacts the worth you’ll be able to get well, your model fame, and your capacity 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 had been lately the recipient of a “Professionals to Know” award. Do you will have any ideas you’d wish to share?
I used to be actually honored to be acknowledged as a 2025 Professional to Know. The award displays the revolutionary, data-driven strategy B-Inventory brings to the cellular secondary market and the resale ecosystem. With the pre-owned cellular 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 machine lifecycles. We allow our companions to navigate a quickly maturing market and unlock new alternatives for tens of thousands and thousands of pre-owned units.
What would you say to your youthful self simply getting began on this business?
I’d inform myself that no one has all of it figured out-even the most important of firms aren’t all the time totally optimized. There’s all the time room to enhance, study, and develop. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t simply accept understanding how issues are done- dig slightly deeper to know the why. That curiosity will make it easier to see alternatives others would possibly miss and make an actual distinction as you develop in your profession.
Trying forward, should you needed to listing your prime 5 ‘issues to observe for’ as an business in 2025, what would they be?
Trying forward, I believe there are a number of key tendencies set to form the pre-owned cellular market. First, the impression of recent and proposed tariffs on imported electronics might considerably elevate 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 are able to anticipate to see elevated demand for restore companies and a renewed deal with getting probably the most worth out of units already in circulation.
On the similar time, the adoption of robotics and AI is remodeling how units are processed, triaged, and graded. Automated methods are making evaluations sooner, extra constant, and extra exact, which helps enhance each effectivity and restoration charges. This pattern is prone to proceed, with robotics taking part in a much bigger function in each stage of the secondary market, from consumption to refurbishment.
We’re additionally seeing the business transfer past primary “buff and polish” beauty fixes. There’s now a a lot larger emphasis on substantial repairs and complete refurbishment, pushed by each shopper expectations and sustainability objectives. Consumers need high quality and affordability, and sellers are responding with increased refurbishment requirements and licensed applications that construct belief and command higher costs.
Authentic tools 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 capable of maximize the residual worth of their merchandise. That is all a part of the broader business maturation, as everybody concerned turns into extra analytical and strategic about extracting worth at each step.
And, lastly, shopper demand for pre-owned and refurbished units continues to rise, fueled by environmental considerations and the rising value of recent units. Because the market grows, we’ll see much more innovation in round economic system fashions, with firms making recommerce a core a part of their sustainability technique.
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For a better take a look at our most up-to-date cellular secondary market pricing information and tendencies of particular top-performing fashions over Q1 2025, view our newest version of the B-Inventory Cell Insider.
