Why the iPhone dominates the refurbished smartphone market

It might surprise you to know that although Apple's flagship brand – the iPhone – can only boast of a small portion of Nigeria's smartphone market (with less than 10% as of 2021), a large number of people in the country and across Africa own an iPhone, thanks to the "second-hand" smartphone market.

Driven by its premium appeal and attractive price point, the 'second-hand' or 'UK-used' iPhones as they are also called have continued to be the go-to option for a rapidly growing digital population like Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya where the purchasing power of the average person is relatively low.

Due to the high prices of new releases, the refurbished option offers users an opportunity to experience the brand’s premium offerings at a much lower cost. Also, the good resale value, durability and the show of class associated with the iPhone brand are some of the factors driving sales in the secondary smartphone market.

But this is not peculiar to Nigeria.

Globally, iPhones have remained the major contributor to the secondary smartphone market over its Android counterpart, with one in every refurbished smartphone that sold in 2022 being an iPhone, according to research by Counterpoint covered by Techloy this week.

The rest of our technology news coverage across emerging markets and the rest of the world continues below and on Techloy.com.

Enjoy the long weekend!

– Emmanuel