Great write-up Stuart! I love seeing the EU/UK markets actively pushing for guaranteed trade-in. Back in the 2017/2018 timeframe when we launched the first OEM trade-in program at Samsung US, we had considered this feature. Ultimately though, US GAAP rules got in the way, and auditors didn't allow us to recognize the full value of the new device sale right away. This is a tough pill to swallow for any company built around the sale of new products!
And one other comment, regarding the drop off in trade-in numbers for older devices this time: it is purely a problem of economics.
Older devices aren't worth very much, the whole reverse logistics process has fixed costs (shipping, processing, triage & grading) so any trade-in credit offered would be impacted that much more.
TI program managers don't want to offer value on hundreds of SKUs and be left with onesies and twosies they can't monetize, and consumers don't really feel the incentive to get rid of their old devices for just a few bucks (or quids for you brits). Ergo, tiny TI rates :)
Assume the higher trade ins at physical stores vs online is due to convenience of being able to settle the process of transitioning to new phone much more easily?
Samsungs galaxy club. Samsung gets a customer upgrading to a new device every 12 months and the secondhand market gets consistent supply of phones less than 15 months old.
Great write-up Stuart! I love seeing the EU/UK markets actively pushing for guaranteed trade-in. Back in the 2017/2018 timeframe when we launched the first OEM trade-in program at Samsung US, we had considered this feature. Ultimately though, US GAAP rules got in the way, and auditors didn't allow us to recognize the full value of the new device sale right away. This is a tough pill to swallow for any company built around the sale of new products!
And one other comment, regarding the drop off in trade-in numbers for older devices this time: it is purely a problem of economics.
Older devices aren't worth very much, the whole reverse logistics process has fixed costs (shipping, processing, triage & grading) so any trade-in credit offered would be impacted that much more.
TI program managers don't want to offer value on hundreds of SKUs and be left with onesies and twosies they can't monetize, and consumers don't really feel the incentive to get rid of their old devices for just a few bucks (or quids for you brits). Ergo, tiny TI rates :)
Interesting results from the survey.
Assume the higher trade ins at physical stores vs online is due to convenience of being able to settle the process of transitioning to new phone much more easily?
Samsungs galaxy club. Samsung gets a customer upgrading to a new device every 12 months and the secondhand market gets consistent supply of phones less than 15 months old.