The smartphone business is in fixed movement, formed by the most recent expertise launches, shifting provide chains, and a mixture of world financial components. These adjustments 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 cell market, what traits he anticipates within the 12 months forward, and a few private insights from his journey within the business.
If you happen to needed to sum up in a single phrase, how would you describe the present state of the pre-owned cell market proper? Why?
Maturing.
The pre-owned cell market is coming 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 applications are extra strong than ever, grading and triage processes have turn out to be more and more exact and environment friendly, because of 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 threat.
This maturation is clear throughout the provision chain: from improved refurbishment requirements and client belief in pre-owned gadgets, to the rise of licensed applications and better concentrate on sustainability. The market is not only growing-it’s evolving, with each hyperlink within the provide chain turning into extra analytical, technology-driven, and centered on extracting the best doable worth.
Any information factors or traits 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 sudden shifts. In distinction to final 12 months, when the market noticed unusually sturdy pricing and fewer depreciation, notably over the summer time months, in Q1 pricing adopted a extra typical sample of gradual depreciation, reflecting a extra secure atmosphere.
What could 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 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 specialists at every stage is important; the standard of your companions straight impacts the worth you’ll be able to get well, your model popularity, and your means to scale sustainably. By investing in sturdy, data-driven partnerships, you’ll maximize the lifetime worth of your gadgets and place your group for long-term success.
You had been just lately the recipient of a “Professionals to Know” award. Do you’ve 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 progressive, data-driven strategy B-Inventory brings to the cell secondary market and the resale ecosystem. With the pre-owned cell 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 firms aren’t at all times totally optimized. There’s at all times room to enhance, study, and develop. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t simply accept figuring out how issues are done- dig a bit deeper to know the why. That curiosity will assist you to see alternatives others may miss and make an actual distinction as you develop in your profession.
Wanting forward, if you happen to needed to record your prime 5 ‘issues to observe for’ as an business in 2025, what would they be?
Wanting forward, I believe there are a number of key traits set to form the pre-owned cell market. First, the influence of latest and proposed tariffs on imported electronics might considerably increase costs for lower-grade gadgets and parts, 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 firms search for methods to regulate prices and reduce 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 companies and a renewed concentrate on getting probably 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 methods are making evaluations quicker, extra constant, and extra exact, which helps enhance each effectivity and restoration charges. This pattern is more likely to proceed, with robotics enjoying 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 client expectations and sustainability targets. Consumers need high quality and affordability, and sellers are responding with larger refurbishment requirements and licensed applications that construct belief and command higher costs.
Unique tools producers, or OEMs, are additionally taking a extra energetic position 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 in a position to 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, client demand for pre-owned and refurbished gadgets continues to rise, fueled by environmental issues and the growing price of latest gadgets. 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 cell secondary market pricing information and traits of particular top-performing fashions over Q1 2025, view our newest version of the B-Inventory Cellular Insider.