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iPhone retains its value best over the years, Android, RIM losing value quicker

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iPhone retains its value best over the years, Android, RIM losing value quicker
You’ve probably noticed that already, but here’s a study to prove your observations true and back it all up with data - the iPhone has the best resale value, while Android and RIM trail behind. 

18 months after you buy your device, its resale value would have dropped to 53% of the original price if it’s an iPhone, 42% if it’s running Android and 41% if it’s a BlackBerry, according to a study by Y Combinator price guide startup Priceonomics.

And if you kept your device for only 12 months, its price would decline to 63% for iPhones and 46% for Androids. If you only keep it for half a year, than an iPhone could sell for 89% of the original price.

“We examined all iPhone models and the 70 most popular Androids and 30 most popular BlackBerry models. iPhone is wiping the floor with Android and BlackBerry in terms of resale value.

We should note, though, that the study focused on the American market and didn’t take into account carrier fees.

iPhone retains its value best over the years, Android, RIM losing value quicker
iPhone retains its value best over the years, Android, RIM losing value quicker

The study also showed that in some places people just sell more iPhones. The list of places where all the hip kids exchange iPhone is on the right - you're likely to get the best price there as the competition is strongest.

This makes the iPhone a perfect purchase for those wishing to get the best value out of their phone and sell it to get a newer one later on. For carriers, though, the situation is hardly that good - Sprint said iPhone subsidies pulled it down for the last quarter. We've added an ebay chart displaying how the iPhone 4S resale value decreased over the last couple of months.

source: Pricenomics via TechCrunch

iPhone retains its value best over the years, Android, RIM losing value quicker
Thumbnail image courtesy of HDforindies.com.

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45 Comments

1. Striker posted on 09 Feb 2012, 05:34 7 7

No surprise here. It is like comparing the resale value of a Benz with these of a VW or a Toyota.

2. bigdawg23 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 06:12 3 4

Agreed.

7. Dmann posted on 09 Feb 2012, 07:50 6 4

No it is not. It´s like comparing Benz with almost all other cars altogether, from Toyota to BMW. You can have Android phones on all segments, from low to high end. Each segment with different resale value.

8. remixfa posted on 09 Feb 2012, 07:55 8 7

correct. ive proven in other articles to our resident apple fanboys that the galaxyS2 is older than the i4s and retains a higher resale value. "android" in this article incorperates everything from the el-cheapo Comet which is only 120 at full retail, to the monster phones like the S2.
Considering that, its not doing all too shabby.

24. metallica43 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 14:46 1 1

you are so right dude plus id say its an advantage having an option of low end and high end from the same company because say u like htc but can afford say a sensation xe you can get a lower spec phone for about £150 but with apple your stuck with one hefty price tag

15. nak1017 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 10:34

Comparing it to cars sortof brings to light of how unimportant the idea of resale on a phone is in the long term considering you don't take out a loan to buy a phone. When there's used phone lots on the side of highways in the shadier part of whatever city you live in, then I believe this will be an issue.

23. jskrenes posted on 09 Feb 2012, 14:40 1

Not quite a fair comparison. Since Android is an open and fluid system, you have Samsung, Motorola, LG, and HTC, among others, releasing new hardware every few months, that drives the resale price down. If there was only one new Android phone for every carrier every six months, I bet Android would hold its resale value more.

3. kshell1 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 07:05 2 4

iphones release once a year and they are extremely popular so naturally the price will be higher.

4. remixfa posted on 09 Feb 2012, 07:21 1 3

amazing anchorage is #2 on the list considering how bad iphones do in the cold.

16. nak1017 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 10:38

I was surprised Portland wasn't higher on the list until I realized it's still 1998 there

29. thephoneguy92 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 17:07

When I used to live in Anchorage, people would kill for an iPhone...like literally kill...

This comment has been moderated, because it doesn`t meet the discussion rules. Show

6. CUL8TR posted on 09 Feb 2012, 07:43 1 5

BENZ WHERE DID U GET THAT FROM

IPHONE BENZ

AND THE REST TOYOTA VW

MADE OUT OV LOW GRADE CHEAP GLASS NOT EVEN CORNING OR SAPPHIRE OR CERAMIC

RIP OFF APPLE THEY ILLUSION STUPID DUM PEOPLE WELL THERE GOOD AT THAT PEOPLE FALL FOR IT

YOUR PAYING A HIGH PRICE FOR MIDRANGE PHONE AND JUST TO USE THERE APPS IN APP STORE

EVEN THE 3GS WAS CHEAP PLASTIC AND SUDDENLY THEY MAKE A PHONE WITH CHEAP GLASS

STRIKER YOUR ANOTHER BRAINWASHED

ISH&&P FAN

PHONES FEAUTRES WELL BELOW STANDARD AND THEY CHARGE YOU £500 WHAT A RIP OFF

10. PAPINYC posted on 09 Feb 2012, 08:22 1 5

This study is seriously flawed.

First off: you can not put a "Premium" Android smartphone, e.g., Motorola Photon/RAZR™/MAXX™, Samsung Galaxy S II/SkyRocket/Galaxy Note, HTC Rezound/EVO 3D, etc, in the same class as a Samsung Dart, Motorola Defy, HTC Hero, etc, or a host of low-end Android phones on carriers like MetroPCS, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, etc.

Secondly, iThink iPhone actually retAiNs more vAlue because, there have been a few tiMes whereiN i'Ve bought iPhones on CrAiGliSt quiTe iNexpensiVely (from people who don't know any better) just so that iCould do a few rAndom tests and then iResell them on CrAiGliSt for much more to people who really don't know any
better aka iShē€p. (baaaa-haaa-haaaa-aaaaaad…)

Finally, RIM actually still has value???????

30. thephoneguy92 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 17:11 2

You are truly evil to make me think that you had some elaborate reason for capitalizing the letters that you did in the second paragraph. I spent 30 minutes trying to decipher that hidden message!

11. YouLostTheGame posted on 09 Feb 2012, 08:43 4 3

Interesting that iOS buyers are sheep while Android buyers are superior, LOL! All I know is that my 4S hasn't randomly rebooted or frozen, or encountered any lag whatsoever. However I did have all of the previously mentioned problems with Android. I owned both an original Droid and a Droid X and both phones were ok for about a month or two, but then started randomly rebooting themselves, freezing and laggy for the simplest of tasks. Wake up and smell the coffee, Android is an inferior product for many, many reasons.

13. andro. posted on 09 Feb 2012, 09:48 3 2

The simply answer is work in retail and with iphone complaints and theres much will change your mind on the situation. The galaxy s2 for one example is a smartphone we currently in which we've had the lowest returns from

20. PAPINYC posted on 09 Feb 2012, 10:55 2

Yes, agreed. (And, no, I do not work for T-Mo' or AT&T or BB or any other venue wherein electronics are sold)

19. PAPINYC posted on 09 Feb 2012, 10:53 3

Well, iPartiAlly agree wiTh you because iToo had the DROID X and that was one CRAPPPPY A$$ phone; so much so, iSwore never ever to buy Motorola again for as long as iLived. As for theOriginal DROID, had that too for about a month; it was even CRAPPPPPPPIER!! Both phones suffered from a variety of technical glitches and the dreaded random reboots. It's not really Android, it's what the OEM manufacterers and the carriers do to the OS. Also, sometimes in an effort to increase profit margin, they will opt' for inferior hardware. I don't have any issues with my DROID RAZR™, however, it has worked flawlessly [for me] since day one.

As for smelling coffee, no thank you; I would rather drink it with some South American "White Sugar" (Thank you).

31. thephoneguy92 posted on 09 Feb 2012, 17:14

To be fair to Android, you did start off on the wrong foot. Android has many leaps and bounds in terms of the phone quality and actual OS. Starting with the original droid/x would come with those problems, but try a SGS2 now and see if you still have the same problems. Just sayin.

45. frydaexiii posted on 09 Feb 2012, 21:45

Maybe one of the reasons is because you're a dimwit who don't know proper phone maintenance? You're like one of those idiots who go around screaming "PC's suck, they crash and get slow after a month!" When they didn't even bother to do system maintenance like defragmenting or cleanup...

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