Though countless consumers felt the economic pinch of inflation in 2022, many profited from trade-in promotions when they upgraded to a new smartphone. According to our Annual Mobile Trade-in and Upgrade Industry Trends report, last year saw a record-breaking amount of money returned to customers from mobile trade-in programs.
The amount: $3.8B.
Q4 2022, historically the peak quarter for trade-in, was also a record-breaking quarter with nearly $1.3B being returned to customers’ wallets. This was a 22% increase over Q4 2021 while 2022 saw a 25% increase over the previous year.
Top Devices Entering the Secondary Market
The 4Q 2022 report reveals that the iPhone 11 continued to be the top turned in device through trade-in and upgrade programs as it had been throughout 2022. The newest and only 5G smartphones in the top 5 turned in devices during this period were the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Max which were released just over two years ago. The Samsung Galaxy S9 had been the top Android device turned in since Q3 2020, but the Google Pixel 6 took the top Android spot in the last quarter of the year.
