Apple Devices Hold Their Value Much Better Than Competitors – iPhone Models Most Popular For Recycling

According to UK based mobile phone recycling comparison site Compare and Recycle, ahead of the release of the iPhone 5s and 5c on September 20th, iPhones accounted for over 42% of comparisons amongst the most popular recycled phones, with the iPhone 4 16GB the most popular recycled phone, accounting for 11.79% of comparisons among the most popular handsets

10 of the 30 most compared phones on the Compare and Recycle site are iPhones, with only the original 2G iPhone not placing on the list. The iPhone 4 16GB is the most popular recycled phone, accounting for 11.79% of comparisons among the most popular handsets. The next most popular handset is the iPhone 4S 16GB at 9.02% while the Samsung Galaxy S II comes a close third with 7.89% of comparisons.

The iPhone 5 16GB is the fifth most popular handset despite being one of the most recently released handsets in the list. A combination of people looking to sell their iPhone 5 before it is devalued by the release of a new model and iPhone users switching to rival brands is attributed to the premature popularity of recycling the iPhone 5 on the site. Although only a third of the most popular models are Apple phones, iPhone recycling accounts for over 42% of comparisons among the top phones on the site.

The dominance of just a few popular brands in the mobile industry is demonstrated by the fact that of the top 30 most popular recycled phones only 5 brands are represented. Despite only having 4 phones featured in the list Samsung account for just under 20% of comparisons thanks to the popularity of the Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III. The release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 earlier in the year will have left many loyal Samsung customers who upgraded with older models to recycle.

The second most popular brand is BlackBerry with 22% of comparisons across 8 models. Despite a recent drop in popularity there are still a huge number of BlackBerry devices in use and as users slowly switch to other brands a large number of BlackBerry devices continue to be recycled.

HTC have 6 phones featured in the most popular list but only accounted for 11.4% of comparisons with the most compared HTC handset only making it to number 16 in the list. The HTC One X is the most recent HTC handset to make the list with older handsets such as the Wildfire S and Desire proving the compared HTC phones.

Nokia handsets accounted for just 3.86% of comparisons across the 30 most popular phones with only the Lumia 800 and N8 appearing in the list. Disappointing sales over the last few years and the decision to support Windows Phone rather than a more popular competitor such as Android has led to a huge drop in popularity for the Finnish manufacturer. Microsoft’s announced purchase of Nokia’s devices division will allow them to take matters into their own hands and ideally produce Windows Phone handsets that can rival the success of iPhone and Android devices.

With the recent release of two new iPhones and high prices being offered for older iPhones the popularity of Apple’s devices in the mobile recycling industry looks set to continue in the near future. Despite being on the market an extra six months the iPhone 5 still commands an almost identical price to the far more recent Samsung Galaxy S4. Apple’s devices tend to hold their value much better than their competitors and this keeps customers recycling their iPhones.

However, with Apple slipping behind Samsung in new phone sales it is expected that by this time next year Samsung devices will be among the most compared phones on the http://www.compareandrecycle.co.uk site, while the decline in sales of new BlackBerry devices will likely lead to a huge decrease in the number of BlackBerry devices being recycled.

Some of the links above are affiliate links to the retailer's site. That means we may earn a small commission from any sales (Thank you!).


Boost Infinite
Apple Store