March 31, 2004
Used Phones Come Calling on China Mobile Market
Interesting insight on the Chinese cell phone market from Reuters.
According research firm Gartner, "a hefty 40 percent of the 62 million new mobile accounts in China last year came from people using second-hand cellphones", or putting it differently, an estimated 10 to 15 percent of all cellphones sold in China are now second-hand, other analysts said.
BNP Paribas Peregrine analyst Marvin Lo estimated that second-hand phone sales will creep up slowly in the coming years, eventually topping out at as much as 30 percent of unit sales.
To combat second-hand sales aimed at the low end of the market, manufacturers are also building up their selection of cheap phones that can sell for as little as 800 yuan each".
In other countries
"In more developed markets like Eastern Europe and the Middle East, second-hand cellphones also account for a sizeable 10 to 25 percent of new accounts.
About two percent of new U.S. accounts use second-hand phones, although many phones that are traded-in for new phones are subsequently exported to developing markets. The rest are scrapped."
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