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Most people aren't spending 5-10x that amount on buying a new phone. Global average selling price of all smartphones was $317 in 2021. Excluding iPhones (only A

Most people aren't spending 5-10x that amount on buying a new phone. Global average selling price of all smartphones was $317 in 2021. Excluding iPhones (only Androids), in 2019, the global average selling price was $269. https://www.statista.com/statistics/788557/global-average-selling-price-smartphones/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/788557/global-average-se... And that's the average, likely brought up drastically by the sale of extremely expensive phones. Apple and Samsung's flagships start at $800 and go over double that for their absolute top of the line. Unfortunately I couldn't find the global median selling price of smartphones, but the source above mentions that 58.5% of all smartphones sold during the second quarter of 2019 in Latin America had a price tag of USD$199 or less, and 83% of all smartphones shipped to Africa during the 4th quarter of 2019 had a price tag of $199 or less. From a quick search, one of the best selling phones right now in India is the Galaxy M13, which is Rs. 9,699, or about USD$118 — barely any more than what Apple charges for a battery replacement in the US (obviously it's not that much for a replacement in India, but it does show how unnecessarily expensive $100 for a battery replacement really is.) https://www.bajajfinserv.in/insights/best-selling-phones-in-india https://www.bajajfinserv.in/insights/best-selling-phones-in-... In China, those that can afford it seem to buy iPhones (10.7% of sales), but all the rest of the best selling phones seem to be cheaper phones (next best selling is around ~USD$220, and the ones after that seem to be a little above or below that.) https://www.gizchina.com/2023/03/28/top-10-best-selling-mobile-phones-in-china-for-2022/ https://www.gizchina.com/2023/03/28/top-10-best-selling-mobi... In Mexico, 63% of smartphones sold in 2021 were between 3,000 to 10,000 pesos (USD$175 to $585.) https://expansion.mx/tecnologia/2022/08/04/smartphones-mas-vendidos-en-2022-mexico https://expansion.mx/tecnologia/2022/08/04/smartphones-mas-v... However, if I'm not mistaken that all is for new phones, and most phone sales worldwide aren't new. While used and refurbished smartphones make up only 24.4% of phone sales in North America as of 2020, they make up 75.6% of phone sales in the rest of the world. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1208609/used-smartphone-market-share-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1208609/used-smartphone-... So the average person worldwide is not buying a new phone at all (and thus spending even less than whatever the median selling smartphone price is, let alone the average.) However, the percentage of phone sales that are used is projected to decrease over time (according to the source above.) Not super surprising, given that while flagship phones have ditched removable backs for a while now, in the past few years more and more budget phones don't even have removable backs, and if you have to spend a significant portion of the cost of a new phone on a battery replacement, then that's a risky decision, as you don't know how long the other parts in the phone will last, and that's a lot of money that you're gambling on it. Sure, 3rd party repair shops in developing countries aren't charging you USD$100 for a battery replacement, but the labor can still easily double the cost of getting a new battery. At $35 (and that's from iFixit, which if I'm not mistaken doesn't even make the batteries — if the companies sold the batteries directly, it'd be even cheaper), a new battery would be a much smaller risk, and near certainly would lead to less e-waste.

tpmoney 3y ago
I still don't understand the assertion that someone who bought an iPhone (used or otherwise) and finds $100 expensive is throwing away said iPhone and generating e-waste when every other option is both more expensive and riskier. Any "new" used phone is going to come with a battery of undetermined age and quality as well as its own set of potential problems and failures, where as a replacement for your existing phone is a known cost in a known (as much as can be with solid state devices) set of problems. Certainly I can see them buying an iFixit battery and trying themselves, or paying a 3rd party vendor and taking a risk on that. But there's just no line of logic that makes any sense to me that says "$100 to replace my iPhone battery is expensive, better throw it away and spend even more money to get someone else's second hand phone of unknown state"
- johnfernow 3y ago
  > Any "new" used phone is going to come with a battery of undetermined age and quality as well as its own set of potential problems and failures Not necessarily, as I can't imagine most refurb/used sales worldwide come from individual sellers; most of them are probably sold by businesses, which sometimes provide a warranty and return policy on their used products. Right now, on the Amazon Renewed Store, the unlocked Galaxy S20 FE 5G 128GB is $187.50. Amazon states, > The product is refurbished, fully functional, and in excellent condition. Backed by the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee. > - This pre-owned product has been professionally inspected, tested and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors. > - This product is in "Excellent condition". The screen and body show no signs of cosmetic damage visible from 12 inches away. > - This product will have a battery that exceeds 80% capacity relative to new. > ... > - This product is eligible for a replacement or refund within 90-days of receipt if it does not work as expected. from https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-128GB-Cloud-Mint/dp/B08L34NZDM/ https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-128GB-Cloud-Mint/dp/B0... So if 2.5 months into using that phone, you feel it doesn't function well, you can return it. Even for sales from individuals, Swappa (an online user-to-user marketplace for used tech) requires you to list the battery health percentage on iPhones if it's below 80%. They also require that everything functions well and even is in good cosmetic condition. Their standard for "fair" is rather high. Outside of pawn shops, I imagine most brick and mortar stores aren't selling phones in poor condition. In the US, the phone carriers, Best Buy, and even Apple themselves sell refurb phones, and they don't want to hurt their reputation by selling poor quality products. Apple in particular has high standards for their refurb phones: > All refurbished iPhone models come with a new battery, new outer shell, are backed by a one-year warranty, have free delivery and returns, and also include: > - Full functional testing, genuine Apple part replacements (if necessary), and a thorough cleaning > - The original Operating System or a more recent version > - All refurbished devices are repackaged in a brand new box with all accessories and cables I guess anecdotally my iPhone 6S as of recently hasn't been performing well. Would a battery replacement help it? Maybe. But that's not certain (it could be that modern apps are so bloated that its 2015 hardware can't handle it despite most of those apps having essentially 0 new meaningful features in the past 8 years) and I'm surely not going to spend $100 on a nearly 8 year old phone to find out. I've replaced the battery myself before, but last time I broke the screen in the process (something that wouldn't have happened if the phone had a removable back), so I'm hesitant to do it again (I was being careful, and have done plenty of phone repairs at this point, but more than anything the ribbon cables break extremely easily.) But if I could just pop off the back and put a new battery in, I'd be willing to give it a try for $35. But instead I'll probably just deal with it for a little while and then get a different used or refurb phone with better battery health than my own device. EDIT: another example of an affordable refurb phone: iPhone SE (2nd gen) is $147 in the US from the Amazon Renewed Store and has all the same benefits Amazon guarantees for the Galaxy S20 FE. So for $47 more than a battery replacement, you can essentially try out a "new" used phone for 80 days and determine whether you want to stick with it or return it. https://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPhone-SE-64GB-Red/ https://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPhone-SE-64GB-Red/

tpmoney 3y ago

I still don't understand the assertion that someone who bought an iPhone (used or otherwise) and finds $100 expensive is throwing away said iPhone and generating e-waste when every other option is both more expensive and riskier. Any "new" used phone is going to come with a battery of undetermined age and quality as well as its own set of potential problems and failures, where as a replacement for your existing phone is a known cost in a known (as much as can be with solid state devices) set of problems. Certainly I can see them buying an iFixit battery and trying themselves, or paying a 3rd party vendor and taking a risk on that. But there's just no line of logic that makes any sense to me that says "$100 to replace my iPhone battery is expensive, better throw it away and spend even more money to get someone else's second hand phone of unknown state"

johnfernow 3y ago
> Any "new" used phone is going to come with a battery of undetermined age and quality as well as its own set of potential problems and failures Not necessarily, as I can't imagine most refurb/used sales worldwide come from individual sellers; most of them are probably sold by businesses, which sometimes provide a warranty and return policy on their used products. Right now, on the Amazon Renewed Store, the unlocked Galaxy S20 FE 5G 128GB is $187.50. Amazon states, > The product is refurbished, fully functional, and in excellent condition. Backed by the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee. > - This pre-owned product has been professionally inspected, tested and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors. > - This product is in "Excellent condition". The screen and body show no signs of cosmetic damage visible from 12 inches away. > - This product will have a battery that exceeds 80% capacity relative to new. > ... > - This product is eligible for a replacement or refund within 90-days of receipt if it does not work as expected. from https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-128GB-Cloud-Mint/dp/B08L34NZDM/ https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-128GB-Cloud-Mint/dp/B0... So if 2.5 months into using that phone, you feel it doesn't function well, you can return it. Even for sales from individuals, Swappa (an online user-to-user marketplace for used tech) requires you to list the battery health percentage on iPhones if it's below 80%. They also require that everything functions well and even is in good cosmetic condition. Their standard for "fair" is rather high. Outside of pawn shops, I imagine most brick and mortar stores aren't selling phones in poor condition. In the US, the phone carriers, Best Buy, and even Apple themselves sell refurb phones, and they don't want to hurt their reputation by selling poor quality products. Apple in particular has high standards for their refurb phones: > All refurbished iPhone models come with a new battery, new outer shell, are backed by a one-year warranty, have free delivery and returns, and also include: > - Full functional testing, genuine Apple part replacements (if necessary), and a thorough cleaning > - The original Operating System or a more recent version > - All refurbished devices are repackaged in a brand new box with all accessories and cables I guess anecdotally my iPhone 6S as of recently hasn't been performing well. Would a battery replacement help it? Maybe. But that's not certain (it could be that modern apps are so bloated that its 2015 hardware can't handle it despite most of those apps having essentially 0 new meaningful features in the past 8 years) and I'm surely not going to spend $100 on a nearly 8 year old phone to find out. I've replaced the battery myself before, but last time I broke the screen in the process (something that wouldn't have happened if the phone had a removable back), so I'm hesitant to do it again (I was being careful, and have done plenty of phone repairs at this point, but more than anything the ribbon cables break extremely easily.) But if I could just pop off the back and put a new battery in, I'd be willing to give it a try for $35. But instead I'll probably just deal with it for a little while and then get a different used or refurb phone with better battery health than my own device. EDIT: another example of an affordable refurb phone: iPhone SE (2nd gen) is $147 in the US from the Amazon Renewed Store and has all the same benefits Amazon guarantees for the Galaxy S20 FE. So for $47 more than a battery replacement, you can essentially try out a "new" used phone for 80 days and determine whether you want to stick with it or return it. https://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPhone-SE-64GB-Red/ https://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPhone-SE-64GB-Red/