Mi smartphones seem to be a hot favourite among buyers of pre-owned phones, closely followed by Apple and Samsung, a study has revealed. Indian re-commerce portal Cashify analysed buying and selling patterns of 1 million users on its platform for FY20. Re-commerce is a term that refers to buying and selling of pre-owned products.
While Mi occupied a 27 percent market share among pre-owned smartphones bought and sold on Cashify, more established brands like Apple and Samsung have been left behind with just 16 percent market share each. The portal’s data pegs Delhi as the hottest pre-owned smartphone market, accounting for 18 percent of sales volumes on the platform, followed by Bengaluru (13 percent) and Mumbai (12 percent). Gurugram, at 6 percent, finds itself in the top-5 pre-owned smartphone markets, ahead of metropolises like Chennai and Kolkata.
Delhiites break smartphones the most, are the least truthful while selling
Delhi occupies another interesting statistic: it’s the market which accounts for the most broken smartphones too. Nearly a third of smartphone users from the national capital reported broken screens, followed by Bengaluru (21 percent) and Gurugram (19 percent).
Broken phone screens or not, Delhiites, Cashify’s newly launched Truth Index reveals, are also the least truthful when it came to revealing the actual condition of their phones while selling them. Bengaluru took the honour as being the most truthful city, followed by Chennai.
Women like iPhones, OnePlus a top high-end draw
Cashify’s data reveals that used iPhones are most favoured by female users, with 29 percent of the iPhones sold on the portal bought by women. Samsung is a close second at 28 percent, although the South Korean technology brand top-scores when it comes to tapping the crucial 25-34 age bracket.
Among premium smartphones, OnePlus occupies the largest chunk of the Rs 30,000-plus segment, accounting for 35 percent of the market share, with the majority of its users (15 percent) hailing from Bengaluru. Xiaomi, on the other hand, has its highest user base in Delhi.
Used phone sales spiked during COVID-19
Despite the survey analysing trends in FY20, nearly 36 percent of Cashify’s respondents reported buying a used smartphone after the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to work-from-home requirements. Not surprising, price and affordability were the key parameters that played a decisive role in the purchase of smartphones, owing to the ongoing economic uncertainty.
“A majority of Indian smartphone users want to derive maximum value out of their pre-owned smartphones,” said Nakul Kumar, COO and Co-Founder, Cashify, adding, “The re-commerce industry has seen a definite surge in 2019-20, as more people are opening themselves to selling and buying used devices.”
Despite the consumption slowdown in the run-up to COVID-19, the Q2 smartphone shipment in India for 2019 was estimated at 36.9 million units, which is a 9.9 percent year-on-year growth. According to global technology analyst, Canalys, the Indian smartphone market grew by 14 percent in Q4 of 2019, with shipments at 39 million units. According to its estimates, India grew by 8 percent and hit 148 million smartphones by the end of last year.
First Published: Jul 9, 2020 12:05 PM IST
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