Used iPhones hold their resale value better than other leading smartphones, according to a new study.
Like cars, which lose significant value the minute they’re driven off a dealer’s lot, smartphone resale prices take a hit as soon as the devices are removed from the box.
The iPhone 7 lost 34% of its value one month after use, according a study by used gadget sales site Decluttr, the smallest drop of any other brand’s flagship phones over a similar period. The Samsung Galaxy S7, which lost half its value in its first month on the market, for example, was the next best.
“The clear winners when it comes to phone depreciation are Apple users,” Liam Howley, Decluttr’s marketing director, said in a statement.
Now that all the major mobile carriers have stopped subsidizing phone purchases—goodbye, $199 iPhone—resale values have gained importance. Higher resale values mean customers are more likely to get a better deal if they trade in their phone when they buy a new one. Or, consumers can get cash for their used phones by selling them on sites like Decluttr, eBay (EBAY), and Gazelle.com.
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Samsung was the second-best brand for retaining value overall while phones from LG came in third and HTC was fourth. “This really does paint a picture of an industry where brands are struggling to keep up with the dominance of the mighty Apple and Samsung within the market,” Howley said.
After one year on the market, Apple models lost an average of 57% of their value compared to a loss of 72% for Samsung and HTC phones. LG brought up the rear with a 75% loss of value after one year.
After two years on the market, HTC models had lost 85% of their value, LG 84%, Samsung about 81% and Apple about 71%.
The iPhone has been improving its performance with more recent Apple (AAPL) models. While the iPhone 5 had lost 74% of its value after one year, the 5S lost only 59% and the 6S just 47% after the same amount of time. After four months on the market, the latest edition iPhone 7 has lost 38% of its value.