Irish consumers are more willing than ever to consider purchasing a refurbished smartphone. In 2023, the worldwide market for second-hand smartphones expanded to 309 million units and is expected to grow by 40% to 430 million units by 2027[2]. More than one in three consumers in Ireland have purchased a refurbished device at least once, and more than two-thirds would consider buying one.
With refurbished devices in Europe set to account for 27 million devices sold in 2024, more than 52% of Europeans declared they are willing to buy a refurbished smartphone in the future, with consumers in Ireland being the most probable market at 64%.
Purchasing a refurbished smartphone saves around 50 Kg CO2e – using one-fifth the carbon emissions of the equivalent newly manufactured smartphone – and removes the need to extract 164 Kg of raw materials.
Irish consumers cited affordability (68%) as their primary reason for choosing a refurbished device, with environmental reasons the second biggest driver (36%). Other reasons included warranty assurance (29%), buying higher end-model (26%) and benefit from after-sale service (12%).
The above findings were unveiled in the sixth edition of the Recommerce Barometer, an annual analysis of consumer trends towards refurbished smartphones at retail published by European device refurbishment leader Recommerce, in partnership with Vodafone.
