iPhone still holds value far better than other smartphones

Data provided by BankMyCell

People love iPhones, and that’s why when it comes to resale value, Apple’s iPhone continues to hold its own in comparison with all other smartphone vendors with the value of its devices deprecating at a much slower rate than anyone else.

Android devices lose value much more swiftly 

Through 2021-2022, cell phone trade-in site BankMyCell tracked 500 smartphone resale values from multiple vendors hourly. It found a host of data points to show that iPhones hold value longest. Perhaps most interesting, they found that Android devices decline in value at a much faster rate than iPhones:

• In one year, the current average depreciation of a new iPhone’s trade-in value is 13.83%, compared with Android’s -32.06%.
• After 4 years, iPhones will lose -47.49% of their initial buyback value, whereas flagship Android phones will lose -78.94% on average.

The result is that the iPhone ranks as number for price retention (-21.93%). That means you’ll still get some cash back if you sell the device years later, while other smartphones you can barely give away.

For more recent models, the iPhone 12/11 range’s resale value held strong at double the rate of the comparable Samsung’s Galaxy S21/S20 series.

New tool lets you verify service history of your iPhone

Perhaps because Apple is preparing to introduce an upgrade, the iPhone SE seems to be losing value fast at present. The iPhone SE 2020 lost -38.32% of its value across the first eight months of 2020, and a further -48.74% in 2021-2022, making it the fastest depreciating iPhone to date.

[Also read: 10 years of iPhone excitement in 9 charts]

Apple’s history proves this pattern

When tracking all devices available for trade-in going back to the iPhone 5, BankMyCell found that Apple’s smartphones lead the industry in terms of resale value.

• iPhone average trade-in loss was -21.93% in 2021-2022.
• Google Pixel’s average trade-in loss was -32.46% in 2021-2022.
• LG’s average trade-in loss was -34.61% in 2021-2022.
• Motorola’s average trade-in loss was -34.83% in 2021-2022.
• OnePlus average trade-in loss was -36.31% in 2021-2022.
• Samsung’s average trade-in loss was -39.17% in 2021-2022.

You can see the full report here.

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