Second-hand iPhone is most preferred smartphone buying choice on OLX

Apple may not be the top-selling brand in India's retail smartphone market but when it comes to buying a second-hand smartphone on OLX, Apple is the most preferred brand in the country, according to the new study. As per data from online marketplace OLX, Apple performs better than Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and OnePlus in the second-hand smartphone market. In fact this year, iPhone was the most listed smartphone on OLX contributing 19 per cent of total smartphone listings, followed by Samsung (16 per cent), BBK Electronics (14 per cent) and Xiaomi (13 per cent). All other smartphone brands including Motorola, Lenovo, Nokia, Asus, Micromax, among others collectively comprised 38 per cent of the smartphones listed on OLX so far this year. As far as demand is concerned, Apple had the highest share with 19 per cent, followed by Xiaomi with 18 per cent, Samsung and BBK Electronics (Vivo, Oppo, OnePlus) tied for the third position with 15 per cent. All other smartphone brands collectively saw 33 per cent of total demand.

Study findings

-- iPhone 5S and iPhone SE continue to be in heavy demand across small towns and rural areas. Both these handsets were officially discontinued by Apple in the year 2016 and 2018, respectively.

-- Xiaomi remains fourth most listed smartphone brand on OLX. Xiaomi comes second in terms of demand, following Apple.

-- Most of the smartphones listings on OLX come from top metro cities like Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

-- Non-metro cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur, Kanpur and Ludhiana are emerging fast in terms of smartphone listings on OLX.

-- In 2019, the average price of a second-hand phone listed on OLX jumped to Rs 12,000, up from Rs 11,000 in 2018 and Rs 9,000 in 2017.

"Despite the prevailing sentiment in the Indian economy, the appetite for premium smartphones and overall demand for pre-owned smartphones has not diminished. A smartphone today is the primary computing device, and the gateway to accessing content on the internet. Users are becoming upwardly-mobile in their aspirations, which is reflected in the rising demand for premium brands, led by Apple’s iPhone," said Nitin Chaudhury, Head of Commercial, OLX India said. "Smartphone OEMs are enhancing their focus to cater to the Indian market, where smartphone penetration is well below 50% and provides significant headroom for future growth, and offers one of the most attractive markets globally."

"Smartphones with improved specifications are now increasingly available across multiple price ranges. Smartphone ownership period is also on the decline, leading to a very healthy supply volume of pre-owned smartphones on OLX, and in the pre-owned market overall. A combination of these factors has led to Apple’s rise as the most popular pre-owned smartphone brand in India," Chaudhary added.

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