Apple iPhone Ultra could lose half of its value or more after just 12 months
Based on stats calculated by SellCell, foldable phones retain less value after 12 months.
Appole iPhone Ultra could lose nearly half of its value in one year. | Image by FPT
The first foldable iPhone is reportedly less than three months away from becoming official. At this point, it appears that the device will be called the Apple iPhone Ultra, and it figures to be the most expensive iPhone ever released. The rumored price of the foldable iPhone ranges between $2,000-$2,400, although some reports suggest that models with a storage capacity of 1TB or 2TB could command a price as high as $2,799.
Don't buy a foldable phone if you plan to flip it (pun unintended) after a year
But don't buy the iPhone Ultra expecting to flip it quickly to get back a large percentage of your money. According to SellCell, the largest smartphone and electronics trade-in price comparison site in the US, foldable phones lose 65% more value after 12 months than traditional smartphones. A study conducted by SellCell based on phones released in 2024 shows that the average foldable depreciates in value by $997.69 compared to $605.32 for the typical candy bar phone after a year.
The worst smartphone investments based on SellCell's study. | Image by SellCell
When buying a new phone, keep in mind that foldable phones retain the least amount of value. For example the 1TB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 dropped an incredible $1,479.99 retaining just 34.5% of its launch price after 12 months. On a percentage basis, the 2024 Moto Razr+ with 256GB of storage had the lowest value retention after 12 months at 28.5%.
Overall, the iPhone retained the most value versus the other phones in SellCell's study
Overall, looking at a chart of the 10 foldable models whose price was tracked for one year after release, the average foldable phone loses 64.6% of its value after 12 months compared to 55.3% for traditional smartphones. Based on this data, if the iPhone Ultra is priced at $2,400 at launch, it might have a valuation of only $849.60 12 months after launch.
Which foldable do you want?
On the other hand, nine of the top ten phones that kept the highest valuation after 12 months were iPhones, led by the iPhone 16 series. The latter retained 51.5% of its value after 12 months. If the iPhone Ultra is priced at $2,400 and retains value like the iPhone 16 line, it would be worth $1,236 after a year.
This is what the iPhone Ultra could be worth after 12 months
So we have a wide spread. Depending on whether the iPhone Ultra depreciates like other foldable models or more like a standard iPhone model after one year, we could see the $2,400 device valued between $849.60-$1,236.
Let's do one more iPhone Ultra hypothetical. If the foldable is priced at $2,000, the low end of the rumored price range, after one year the value of the device could be in a range between $708 and $1,030.
SellCell computed the average retention rate for the major brands in the study and ranked them based on their retention rates for their 2024 models:
- Apple: the iPhone retains the most value after 12 months at 51.5%.
- OnePlus: phones from this manufacturer kept 46.8% of their value after 12 months.
- Google: Pixel 9 phones retained 40.8% after one year, while the Pixel 9 Fold held 37% of its value after 12 months.
- Samsung: the Galaxy S25 flagship series retained 39.5% of its launch price, and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 kept 35.7% of their value after a year.
- Motorola: phones from this manufacturer held on to only 24.5% of their value after 12 months.
Expensive phones do not hold more value than cheaper handsets
By the way, buying an expensive phone doesn't guarantee that it will be worth more after 365 days (366 days on leap years). For example, the 1TB Galaxy Z Fold is the priciest phone in the study with an MSRP of $2,259.99. After 12 months, it was valued at $780 for a 64.5% decline in value.
Another variation that could affect how much value a phone retains is the amount of storage the device has. SellCell says that phone models sporting higher amounts of native storage often retained less value. Phones in the SellCell study that were equipped with only 128GB of storage were able to keep 46.3% after one year. Meanwhile, those phones with 1TB of storage retained a lower 43.5% of value.
The bottom line is that buying a foldable phone might not be a great investment, and even the iPhone Ultra could lose half its value in the first year. If you plan to buy a foldable, buy it because you want to use a foldable and you have true, legitimate reasons for wanting one.
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