Apple cooks up iPhone trade-in scheme to boost sales
Used phones collected in the US to be resold in emerging markets, according to plan
Apple is starting an iPhone trade-in programme this month aimed at getting users to upgrade to the iPhone 5 and turn in older models, people with knowledge of the plans said.
Apple has teamed up with Brightstar Corp, a mobile-phone distributor, to run the exchange programme, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Apple has not publicly announced the plan.
Brightstar also handles trade-ins for AT&T and T-Mobile US, as well as other carriers and device makers, amid brisk demand for refurbished iPhone 4s and 4Ss in emerging markets. By offering money for older smartphones, Apple chief executive Tim Cook is seeking to entice consumers to upgrade to the latest models, part of the company's efforts to reignite sales growth and combat declining shares.
AT&T is currently paying as much as US$200 for working iPhone 4s and 4Ss, which could let some customers buy an entry-level iPhone 5 for no money down.
Until now, Apple paid little attention to the refurbished iPhone market. That is changing as Apple's growth has slowed in recent quarters. Samsung Electronics became the best-selling smartphone brand in the US in May, T Michael Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, wrote in a report this week.
Apple sold 37.4 million units of the iPhone in the latest quarter, compared with 35.1 million a year earlier. Apple shares have declined 38 per cent from a record in September, weighed down by investor concerns that the company's era of rapid growth, fuelled by the 2007 debut of the iPhone, may be over.