The smartphone business is in fixed movement, formed by the most recent know-how launches, shifting provide chains, and a mixture of world financial components. These modifications don’t simply influence new gadget gross sales, they’ve a direct impact on the thriving secondary market, the place demand for inexpensive and high-quality pre-owned gadgets is rising quickly.
On this B-Inventory Q&A, we join with Joe Dube, Director of Cellular Accounts, to get his perspective on the present panorama of the pre-owned cellular market, what tendencies he anticipates within the yr forward, and a few private insights from his journey within the business.
When 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 part of sophistication and scale. Stakeholders now acknowledge the immense alternative within the secondary market, and we’re seeing fast developments in how gadgets are sourced, assessed, and bought. Commerce-in packages are extra strong than ever, grading and triage processes have change into more and more exact and environment friendly, because of improvements like AI-powered diagnostics and automatic inspection techniques, 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 gadgets, to the rise of licensed packages and better give attention to sustainability. The market isn’t just growing-it’s evolving, with each hyperlink within the provide chain changing into extra analytical, technology-driven, and targeted on extracting the very best doable worth.
Any information factors or tendencies take you without warning in Q1?
Essentially the most important development in Q1 was a return to market normalcy. We noticed normal month-to-month depreciation charges within the 2–4% vary, with no main pricing swings or sudden shifts. In distinction to final yr, when the market noticed unusually robust pricing and fewer depreciation, notably over the summer season months, in Q1 pricing adopted a extra typical sample of gradual depreciation, reflecting a extra secure 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 very 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 instantly impacts the worth you may recuperate, your model repute, and your skill to scale sustainably. By investing in robust, data-driven partnerships, you’ll maximize the lifetime worth of your gadgets and place your group for long-term success.
You had been not too long ago 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 progressive, 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 lengthen gadget lifecycles. We allow our companions to navigate a quickly maturing market and unlock new alternatives for tens of tens of millions of pre-owned gadgets.
What would you say to your youthful self simply getting began on this business?
I’d inform myself that no person has all of it figured out-even the biggest of corporations aren’t at all times absolutely optimized. There’s at all times room to enhance, be taught, and develop. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t simply accept realizing how issues are done- dig slightly deeper to grasp the why. That curiosity will show you how to see alternatives others may miss and make an actual distinction as you develop in your profession.
Trying forward, in case you needed to checklist your high 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 influence of recent and proposed tariffs on imported electronics may considerably increase costs for lower-grade gadgets and elements, notably 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 corporations search for methods to manage prices and decrease provide chain disruptions. If tariffs do drive up costs for brand spanking new and imported gadgets, we are able to count on to see elevated demand for restore providers and a renewed give attention to getting essentially the most worth out of gadgets already in circulation.
On the identical time, the adoption of robotics and AI is remodeling how gadgets are processed, triaged, and graded. Automated techniques are making evaluations sooner, extra constant, and extra exact, which helps enhance each effectivity and restoration charges. This development is more likely to proceed, with robotics taking part in a much bigger position in each stage of the secondary market, from consumption to refurbishment.
We’re additionally seeing the business transfer past fundamental “buff and polish” beauty fixes. There’s now a a lot better emphasis on substantial repairs and complete refurbishment, pushed by each shopper expectations and sustainability targets. Consumers need high quality and affordability, and sellers are responding with increased refurbishment requirements and authorized packages that construct belief and command higher costs.
Authentic gear producers, or OEMs, are additionally taking a extra energetic position within the secondary market. They’re investing extra in trade-in packages, 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 gadgets continues to rise, fueled by environmental issues and the rising price of recent gadgets. Because the market grows, we’ll see much more innovation in round financial system fashions, with corporations making recommerce a core a part of their sustainability technique.
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For a more in-depth have 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 Cellular Insider.
