“It has the longest battery life,” “it is the best phone we have ever made.” The slogans sound grandiose in the presentations of the new mobile models. The prices are on par with the epic narrative: 959 euros for the iPhone 16 but up to 1,969 euros for the most expensive model, and the same thing happens with Samsung, which sells the Galaxy S24 Ultra for 1,199 euros and easily exceeds 1,500 euros for the Galaxy Fold 6. Spain is one of the countries with the highest mobile phone penetration rate in the world. According to data from the National Markets and Competition Commission, In 2023 there were 59,500,000 mobile lines for a population of just under 49 million inhabitants. Does this fury to acquire new cell phones respond to a real need or to excessive consumerism?
“Mobile manufacturers make people believe that real innovation is happening and reinforce the idea that new necessarily means better. It is perceived obsolescence,” explains Marta Castillo, marketing manager at Back Market. This portal for buying and selling refurbished mobile phones is experiencing a golden moment; According to them, their turnover grew by 23% in 2023 compared to the previous year, up to 2,157 million euros. In Spain, the average mobile phone is changed every two or three years, according to a study by Rentik and the Report on the global impact of refurbished electronics (carried out by the French Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME) in 2022.
Consumers cling to their phones
He Californian Chris Matyszczyk He is one of the veterans in the world of the blogosphere and also someone who resists changing mobile phones just because. Clinging to his bruised iPhone 12 since 2020, he sees no reason to renew. “I usually go to the Apple Store to have them explain the improvements of the new iPhone when it goes on sale and I laugh when I hear that the camera is better than the previous one,” explains Matyszczyk. “It is still a functional object, and mine continues to work perfectly despite the years,” he adds.
The same thing happens to Samsung with the latest innovations of its highest-end mobile phones. In the manufacturer’s own comparatorthe differences between the current flagship, the Galaxy Fold 6 and the previous one, the Fold 5. A larger and brighter screen, greater resistance to dust, but practically the same camera and identical battery. What arguments can the potential buyer of the device find? Furthermore, both Apple and Samsung have embarked on the promise of artificial intelligence and Apple does not even incorporate it into the equipment, ensuring that it will arrive in the future. Until the popular youtuber Marques Brownlee In his analysis of the iPhone 16, he highlights the irony of the situation: “You cannot review something that has not arrived yet,” in reference to the words of Tim Cook, who announced that the iPhone 16 had been designed exclusively around the future promise of the Apple Intelligencean ethereal service of which the details are unknown and whose absence leaves the company’s flagship mobile lame. The problem is that the market has become accustomed to these incremental improvements that hardly provide anything new.
The Basque businessman José (he prefers not to give his last name) is another of those who left the renewal wheel, but in this case, by accident: “One fine day, the camera on my iPhone stopped working,” he says, and After going through an approved Apple technical service, they informed him that the repair cost was so expensive that it was almost worth it to buy a new terminal. “It was at that moment when the salesperson himself discouraged me from purchasing the latest model and recommended the previous one, stating that “there were almost no differences.” Basically, this employee was saving him 200 euros in the purchasing process and all for be lost some improvements premium which I really didn’t need.
The ecological footprint of mobile sales
Mallorcan lecturer David Arráez has been stuck on his iPhone 12 Pro Max for four years: “I don’t update because what is coming out is not worth it,” he explains. According to Arráez, manufacturers act this way because “people continue buying” and they distill the minimum improvements to justify the outlay to that market niche that always wants to have the latest model. And he is right: Samsung’s sales continue to increase in the heat of the Galaxy S24, and the same thing happens to Apple, despite the slippage in sales forecasts for the iPhone 16.
But these rebels, who refuse to jump through hoops and buy the latest model every year, put forward another solid argument: the impact on the environment. “By purchasing a refurbished mobile phone, you save up to 77,000 liters of water, achieve an 89% reduction in electronic waste and avoid the extraction of 243.60 kg of raw materials, the equivalent of the weight of twelve bicycles.” explains Castillo, marketing manager at Back Market. What does the reconditioning process consist of? It is a way to get out of the renewal cycle that those who want to always be up to date with their mobile are dragged into.
They are second-hand mobile phones, reviewed and, most importantly, with a guarantee similar to that of a new mobile phone. These devices undergo extensive testing, similar to those performed at manufacturers’ repair centers. Defective parts are replaced, batteries are evaluated or replaced, and the external appearance of the phone is improved. Once refurbished, the phone is prepared for sale and the terminal can be purchased up to a price 70% lower than the market price.
