The back of an iPhone proclaims that it’s been Designed by Apple in the U.S. and Assembled in China. But a better reflection of sales trends would have them add that they’re also Refurbished in a factory in the United States or elsewhere.
More and more people are buying cheaper, secondhand iPhones and Android phones as newer models get more expensive, with the iPhone X starting at $1,000.
Apple’s iPhone sales have plateaued in the last couple of years, but sales of refurbished phones grew at an annual rate of 13% in 2017, according to Counterpoint’s Refurbished Smartphone trend report. That figure may be closer to 22%, says Serge Verdoux, who’s coordinating the U.S. expansion of Back Market, a website that aggregates sales of refurbished electronics, which derives most of its sales from secondhand smartphones.