Consumers trade in more iPhones than Android smartphones, study finds

Ahead of an expected "iPhone 13" launch, a new study published Monday suggests iPhone gets traded in at a higher rate than Android handsets, with nearly one-third of Apple trade-ins going toward the purchase of an upgrade.

More than 35% of iPhone owners who purchased a new or used device over the 12-month period ending in June either sold or traded in their old model, according to a survey conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. About 30% traded in iPhone, while just over 5% sold the device.

By comparison, roughly 5% of Android owners who rid themselves of their smartphone hardware over the same period sold the device, while just over 10% traded it in.

Upgrades for iPhone are in part driven by Apple's popular iPhone Upgrade Program, which allows customers to receive a new iPhone every year by paying a monthly fee.

Interestingly, nearly half of Android handsets are kept, with only 29% of iPhone owners surveyed claiming the same. The survey category indicates Android users are holding on to their handset for "future use," but owners might come to the conclusion that it is not worthwhile to trade in or sell old hardware. CIRP does not provide statistics on devices that are simply abandoned or thrown away.

About 10% of Android handsets were recycled, more than double the amount reported by iPhone owners. Similarly, some 14% of Android handsets were reported lost, stolen or broken, a statistic compared with about 12% for iPhone.

Digging deeper into the data shows 84% of buyers who had an old iPhone reported a "perfect" or "scratched but usable" display. That compares to 76% of buyers who had an old Android phone. Roughly the same number of iPhone and Android owners (less than 10%) reported a "cracked and unusable" display, while significantly more Android users said their device was "cracked but usable."

Just over 30% of respondents said their old Android device lasted a full day or longer without recharging, compared to 23% for iPhone. More iPhone owners reported that their device lasted for "most of the day without charging." Battery longevity provides questionable value to the study as CIRP does not take device usage into account.

The research firm surveyed 2,000 U.S. smartphone users for the report.

Today's study comes on the heels of a related poll that found some 10% of existing iPhone owners intend to upgrade to "iPhone 13" at launch.

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8 Comments

Fred257 256 comments · 5 Years

About 3 years ago

I’m going to trade in my iPhone mini for an iPhone SE. I’m tired of Face ID not working with my mask. Not only that but the only thing that’s nicer about the mini compared to my first iPhone SE is the camera. Everything else runs at exactly the same speed. I will never upgrade to a newer iPhone ever again. This thing is five generations past my first gen SE and it’s as slow as a dead skunk

bluefire1 1310 comments · 10 Years

I wonder how many nuts are out there are like me and get a new iPhone every year. My iPhone 12Pro Max will be heading to Gazelle for a new 13 Pro Max.

JFC_PA 947 comments · 7 Years

I used to do Gazelle, the Apple Upgrade program is simpler with no “lost” devices or condition hassles. Costs about the same as I recall.

Japhey 1772 comments · 6 Years

bluefire1 said:

I wonder how many nuts are out there are like me and get a new iPhone every year. My iPhone 12Pro Max will be heading to Gazelle for a new 13 Pro Max.

Why Gazelle? They only offered me $435 for my 12 Pro Max, whereas Apple is quoting 11 Pro Max’s as “up to $540”. I’m sure the 12 trade in quotes will be available later today. But based on what Apple is offering for a 2 year old phone, they will most assuredly be offering more than Gazelle for the 12’s. Plus, the 128gb models are going for $700 and up on eBay right now. I would look around more before committing to Gazelle, imo.

verne arase 479 comments · 11 Years

bluefire1 said:

I wonder how many nuts are out there are like me and get a new iPhone every year. My iPhone 12Pro Max will be heading to Gazelle for a new 13 Pro Max.

I'm probably going for a 13 Pro Max ... I always want that latest and greatest camera so year by year the pictures in my photo library keep getting better. It's pretty awe inspiring to go back and look at the photos in my photo library and see how the quality of camera pics have evolved.

Used to use Canon consumer level DSLRs because the glass made 'em so nice, but the glass is so expensive and cumbersome to change. I remember buying a 70-210 that was around $3K ... but at least I could use it continuously when my daughter's high school had their on stage events - and the zoom was better than it sounded because my cameras used cropped sensors.

But I also remember lugging all that camera equipment around - not fun.

I'll probably use the 12 Pro Max as my backup since the iPhone 6 Plus doesn't support a current iOS, and the 7 Plus has a cracked screen and a battery that's toast (and not really worth replacing). Maybe I'll use it fly my Air 2 without notification interruptions.

The 12 Pro Max doesn't feel like it gets the battery life of my 11 Pro Max which went to my wife. Hopefully the 13 Pro Max will improve on that.