The 10 smartphones that lost the most resale value during 2019
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus’ resale value fell more than that of any other phone over the course of 2019, according to a new study.
BankMyCell, a comparison site for trading in gadgets, says the S10 Plus’ resale value fell by a whopping $373 last year (the report is based on US data only). Since the handset only came out in March, that means it lost nearly $400 of resale value in approximately nine months.
In fact, three members of the S10 family and three members of Google’s Pixel family appear in the top 10 list of phones that lost the most resale value between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019:
- Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (released March 2019): $373 drop
- Samsung Galaxy S10 (released March 2019): $278 drop
- Google Pixel 3 (released November 2018): $267 drop
- Google Pixel 3 XL (released November 2018): $253 drop
- Samsung Galaxy S10 5G (released April 2019): $244 drop
- Sony Xperia XZ3 (released October 2018): $215 drop
- Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (released August 2018): $188 drop
- iPhone XS Max (released September 2018): $176 drop
- Samsung Galaxy S10e (released March 2019): $172 drop
- Google Pixel 3a (released May 2019): $165 drop
These are extremely disheartening figures, which help illustrate the vicious cycle that consumers can find themselves trapped in.
Flagship smartphones are getting increasingly expensive with each passing year, and phone manufacturers are releasing more and more of them, in order to pressure consumers into thinking that they need to upgrade their handset much earlier than is actually necessary.
Simultaneously, flagships are losing their resale value at an astonishing rate, and not just during their first 12 months on the market.
On average, BankMyCell says, Android flagship phones depreciate twice as fast as iPhones.
“In two years, the average iPhone would lose -45.46% of its original resale value: -23.45% in year one and -28.75% in year two,” its report reads.
“In two years, the average Android flagship phone would lose –71.41% of its original resale value: -45.18% [in year one] and -47.85% [in year two].”
However, the pressure to upgrade that smartphone makers are placing on consumers may not be working quite as effectively as it once did.
According to a survey carried out by analyst firm CCS Insight in December, more and more people are considering buying refurbished smartphones rather than brand new ones.
60% of UK-based participants and 56% of US-based participants in CCS Insight’s survey said they would consider going second-hand for their next smartphone purchase.
Related: How to recycle your old electronics
You’ll find way more stats and trends in the full BankMyCell report, which you can read here.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.