The market for refurbished smartphones has reached approximately 167 million devices, representing about 11 percent of the total market share in 2022, TrendForce said.
The largest market for these pre-owned devices remains China, with Europe following behind in second place. India’s burgeoning market, bolstered by its vast population, is projected to rival China’s sales of refurbished smartphones by 2026.

Apple has dominated the refurbished smartphone market in 2022, capturing 45-50 percent of sales, while Samsung has 25-30 percent share.

The surge in the second-hand smartphone market is due to demand from emerging countries, and to the challenging nature of hardware and software innovation for new smartphone models. This difficulty in innovating is leading to a diminished desire among consumers to upgrade their devices.