Xiaomi, Apple, Samsung top selling brands in refurbished phone market in 2019-20: Cashify

NEW DELHI: Xiaomi was the top selling smartphone brand in the pre-owned segment, with a 27% market share followed by Apple and Samsung at 16% each and and Motorola at 12% in 2019-20, according to Cashify's fourth annual User Behaviour study for the pre-owned phone market.

Delhi (18%), Bangalore (13%), and Mumbai (12%) accounted for over 40% of refurbished smartphone sales. Faridabad and Ghaziabad were the fastest growing market for refurbished phones.

The report, which also covered user behaviour after the covid-19 outbreak, found 32% of participants purchased refurbished devices to meet remote working requirement, while 26% for educational and other requirements of family members. Affordability was the primary reason for buying refurbished phones as buyers have become cautious about discretionary spending. The ₹10k- 20k segment dominated the covid-19 driven purchase.

"We are seeing a lot of demand coming from students in the age group of 10 to 15 years. Typically kids get a phone when they reach the age group of 16 years. But now they are getting it earlier as they need a computing device to attend online classes," said Nakul Kumar, COO & Co-Founder, Cashify.

Cashify also found that Apple iPhones are more popular among female buyers, with 29% women users accounting for all refurbished iPhones. Samsung phones are mostly used by consumers in the 25 to 34 years age group. In the ₹30,000 segment, OnePlus with 35% market share was the top brand. OnePlus 5 was the highest selling refurbished phone from the brand.

Kumar points out, "Numerous launches, more brand options, new price points and the overall aspirational value of an upgrade, are some of the factors that led the second-hand smartphone industry to widen its turf during 2019-20. The re-commerce industry has seen a definite surge in 2019-20, as more people are opening themselves up to selling and buying used devices."

For the study, Cashify analysed the buying and selling data of over 1 million users on its platform in 2019-20.

Cashify has also released a Truth Index report which gives a score to cities based on how truthful users were in declaring the actual condition of their devices at the time of listing it online for sale. Users in Bengaluru were found to be most honest with a score of 36%, while users in Delhi were least truthful with a score of 23%.