Just curious, but what does Samsung do with all the trade-in devices?

[Emig5m]

Do they resell them as used, use them for insurance replacements, etc...?

 

[Blues Fan]

Do they resell them as used, use them for insurance replacements, etc...?

I wonder that too. Especially when they offer trade in credit more than what that said phone is worth if you tried selling it outright. I wondered maybe they sell them to retailers in lesser developed countries?

 

[bhatech]

Do they resell them as used, use them for insurance replacements, etc...?

Samsung isn't the one that's actually taking back the phones, all companies partner with certain trade in partners and they could sell them may be in secondary markets or yeah insurance replacements may be if they are partnering with insurance companies. But Samsung, Apple, Google generally aren't the one receiving the trade in phones. They just partner with 3rd party trade in companies to make it easy for us to trade in.

 

[Mooncatt]

Especially when they offer trade in credit more than what that said phone is worth if you tried selling it outright.

You're just covering the difference with inflated pricing on the new phone or plan contract. All in the name of making you think you're getting a better deal than you really are.

 

[sulla1965]

You're just covering the difference with inflated pricing on the new phone or plan contract. All in the name of making you think you're getting a better deal than you really are.

I read that flagship phones cost less than $100.00 to make (parts)

 

[Blues Fan]

I read that flagship phones cost less than $100.00 to make (parts)

So if you really really break it down with labor, advertising, freight, etc it probably comes out to about $220

 

[Mooncatt]

So if you really really break it down with labor, advertising, freight, etc it probably comes out to about $220

There's also R&D, programming, and ongoing updates. So while I understand there's a lot more than just the immediate production costs, I also understand the idea of loss leaders. I.e. They take a loss on giving you more than market value for a trade, and offset it with inflated pricing elsewhere. That could be the retail price, or partnering with other companies to require additional purchases like a specific plan or insurance policy.

 

[Blues Fan]

There's also R&D, programming, and ongoing updates. So while I understand there's a lot more than just the immediate production costs, I also understand the idea of loss leaders. I.e. They take a loss on giving you more than market value for a trade, and offset it with inflated pricing elsewhere. That could be the retail price, or partnering with other companies to require additional purchases like a specific plan or insurance policy.

They're making a killing on stuff like those phone cases, chargers and earbuds I'm sure. The cases especially.

 

[Emig5m]

There's also R&D, programming, and ongoing updates. So while I understand there's a lot more than just the immediate production costs, I also understand the idea of loss leaders. I.e. They take a loss on giving you more than market value for a trade, and offset it with inflated pricing elsewhere. That could be the retail price, or partnering with other companies to require additional purchases like a specific plan or insurance policy.

Plus I'm sure someone as big as Samsung has astronomical power and building maintenance bills, they have to keep the show up and running lol. Can't really complain on phone price because look at how much stuff it does and how many standalone devices of the past it replaces (portable music player, still cam, video cam, gps, mini pc, etc.etc.) consolidated into one small device that fits in your pocket.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

So if you really really break it down with labor, advertising, freight, etc it probably comes out to about $220

It's gone up considerably in the last few years. S21 Ultra 5G has a BoM over $500. Back when flagships sold for $700 they cost around $150-$200 for BoM.

 

[13Flossy]

They're making a killing off everything and they resell their phones

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Literally just posted something I posted months ago without looking.

 

[J Dubbs]

There's also R&D, programming, and ongoing updates. So while I understand there's a lot more than just the immediate production costs, I also understand the idea of loss leaders. I.e. They take a loss on giving you more than market value for a trade, and offset it with inflated pricing elsewhere. That could be the retail price, or partnering with other companies to require additional purchases like a specific plan or insurance policy.

Yep sometimes I think folks forget these companies are in the business of making money... not giving it away. They specialize in figuring out ways to get us to give them money, and they are extremely good at it. If a person buys just what they need (and shops sales of course ), and looks at the big/long-term picture it can go a long way on helping to save money.

It's frustrating to see so many people we know struggling financially, that are saddled with these big locked in phone bills, and new phones they claimed they saved a fortune on, but struggle to keep the family fed... even though everyone in the family has a new phone they saved a ton on.

I wonder what the nutritional value of a phone is?

 

[anon(40376)]

Not sure how they taste, but the Oneplus 10 sure looked like a Hershey bar when Zach (Jerryrig) broke it in two.

Two-types or phones.

Trade-in phones. Most likely, they run it through a process of testing and replacing any needed parts and from there depending on the age of the phone, it will be sent to a different global distribution company that places into a country where it can sell the phone.

Once read that India, China, or Russia three of the largest markets for used phones (maybe not Russia this week) however, African, Latin America and South America are also large territories. In that same article it was noted these phones are not necessarily used for reman replacements by the manufacturer since most of the trade ins are for models well out of the standard manufacturer warranty period. But I would guess many are used for insurance replacements but cannot say I read that in the article.

Also, if you visit the Samsung site today, they are selling certified refurbished S21 models and some older NOTE models. S21 Ultras going for about 1K. Not sure what they were giving in trade ins.

Warranty/policy returned phones.

As for phones returned for warranty reasons, they are checked over, repaired and then used as the remanufactured models used for replacements under warranty. That's why early on for a release, if there are not that many returned, your replacement will be brand new, then as the models come back under warranty or just the standard return policy, they are sent out as replacements under warranty.

That's all from memory of a few articles read over the years.

Found two of those old articles:
https://www.gizmogrind.com/blog/what-happens-phones-that-are-traded-in/

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-to-your-old-phone-2016-2

 

[KupKrazy]

I just read this thread about the cost of making the phone being around $200 - it's actually more like $500+ for flagship phones. According to this link - the S21 Ultra cost over $500 in production, and the iPhone 13 Pro was over $570 as of last December.


https://www.techwalls.com/production-costs-of-smartphones/

 

[joeldf]

I just read this thread about the cost of making the phone being around $200 - it's actually more like $500+ for flagship phones. According to this link - the S21 Ultra cost over $500 in production, and the iPhone 13 Pro was over $570 as of last December.


https://www.techwalls.com/production-costs-of-smartphones/

Yeah, that was already mentioned up-thread in post #10.

 

[sulla1965]

Sell again to sellers who then sell on ebay, swappa etc. Maybe cannibalize them for parts for refurbished and/or to use in future devices. Waste not want not.

 

[monkeycsk]

You're just covering the difference with inflated pricing on the new phone or plan contract. All in the name of making you think you're getting a better deal than you really are.

totally agreed !!

 

[anon(40376)]

Refurbished Smartphone Sales Grew More Than New Smartphones In 2021


https://www.androidheadlines.com/2022/04/refurbished-smartphone-sales-grew-2021.html