Apparently, once again, the smartphone market is in decline. According to a recent industry estimate from analysts CSS Insight, economic uncertainties, greater build quality, and a growing appeal for sustainable living will damage the global smartphone market while simultaneously driving the global used phone market to new heights.
In 2023, the business projects that mobile phone shipments would total 1.35 billion units, a 4% decrease from last year and the lowest annual level in the previous ten years. 1.16 billion of the devices will be brand-new ones.
This, according to Marina Koytcheva, Vice President of Forecasting at CCS Insight, is due to individuals being content to carry their smartphones with them for longer periods of time.
Additionally, they are less interested in making significant investments in top-tier gadgets given the unpredictable swings in the global economy brought on by Covid-19, the Russian invasion, and the impending global recession.
READ MORE: How To Travel For Free
The smartphone market is in decline: increasing demand for used goods
Nonetheless, people continue to prefer mobile phones, thus they are increasingly looking at used models.
According to Parul Saxena, Senior Analyst at CCS Insight, “the market for used devices is predicted to continue rising in 2023 as individuals seek value-for-money solutions in the face of a bad economy and prefer pre-owned phones to support a more environmentally responsible lifestyle.”
According to CSS Insights, 330 million used devices will be sold this year, with a “rising share” entering the market via organized channels.
The experts think that some new devices will continue to function properly. Specifically, the demand for 5G-enabled gadgets will be rather high, probably exceeding 700 million shipments this year. In other words, more than one out of every two phones sold will be 5G-capable.
The analysts came to the conclusion that while the market would expand considerably overall the following year, it is extremely improbable that it will reach the levels of the mid-2010s when about two billion new gadgets were sold annually. They contend that the demand for used goods is too high to permit it.
In fact, it’s expected that secondhand devices will account for twice as much of all sales by 2027.
“Our research shows that mobile phones remain the most loved connected device that people own. But that doesn’t mean that consumers want to keep buying phones as often as before or purchase brand-new devices. Post-pandemic consumer behavior has changed, and the industry needs to adapt to the new reality,” Koytcheva concludes.
Leave a Reply