Apple has heavily promoted their trade-in program in recent years, encouraging users
to give up their old iPhone in exchange for a discount on a new model.
Over a third of Apple Store customers now utilize this program, but its left many people
wondering why Apple even wants our old iPhones.
Which is what I’ll explain right now.
It’s no coincidence that Apple began offering discounts with trade-ins in 2013, when they
experienced their first quarterly profit decline in a decade.
And started aggressively promoting the trade-in program in 2017, when they released the $1,000
iPhone X.
It solved two problems the company faced: Slowing iPhone sales due to market saturation,
and users waiting longer to upgrade due to the iPhone’s price rising year after year.
Trade-ins bring down the device’s price and allow more users to upgrade sooner.
But what does Apple do with all those old iPhones?
Well, if it’s in good working condition, they refurbish the device and resell it in
emerging markets like India, Latin America and Africa.
That way, Apple can directly compete in the used smartphone market while also selling
a device twice that only had to be manufactured once.
But if the phone is in too poor a condition to sell, Apple recycles it.
They actually created a robot called Daisy specifically for this purpose.
It’s able to dissemble 200 iPhones an hour while recovering recyclable materials that
would otherwise be left in landfills.
This approach was required in order to achieve Apple’s goal of a closed-loop supply chain.
Where all new products would be manufactured without “pulling new materials from the
Earth.”
Apple has yet to achieve the goal, but they are taking steps like using 100% recycled
rare earth materials in the iPhone 12.
So the iPhone trade-in program benefits the customer by making their new device more affordable,
benefits Apple by boosting sales of new iPhones plus sales of older refurbished models, and
benefits the environment.
By allowing devices to be used up to their full potential before being recycled.
This is Greg with Apple Explained, thanks for watching till the end, and I’ll see
you in the next video.