U.S. Customers Are Hoarding $13.4bn Of Old iPhones

Around half of U.S. consumers are hoarding their old iPhones in cupboards and sock drawers — representing an inventory worth around $13.4 billion in total.

According to the annual “Mobile Mountain Study” conducted by research group OnePoll for resale site SellCell.com, this figure is down from the 55% of people who admitted to holding onto their old smartphones last year — although the total amount of money being left on the table is up from last year’s sum of $9 billion, thanks to the growing smartphone market.

“Americans are still unaware of the money they can make by trading in their old mobile,” says SellCell founder Keir McConomy.

Among those who haven’t sold or traded in their old phones, SellCell’s survey (carried out in January) claims that 20% of people give them away to family members, friends or partners, 12% give them to charity, and 9% throw them away.

Women are more likely to give their old phones to a family member or friend (22.5%) than men (18%).

As to why people are holding on to their old phones, 17% of people claim to be “too lazy” to get rid of them, 40% say they hold on to old models in case they need a spare, and 36% say they “don’t know what else to do with them.”

Below is a list of the most popular phones to trade in, along with the value you may get for them:

Top 10 most popular traded-in cellphones in the U.S.

Source: MarketWatch

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.