E-Scrap News Magazine: Consumers sitting on $34 billion in used cell phones

## Consumers sitting on $34 billion in used cell phones


_By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling_

Consumers across the country are hording $9 billion worth of old iPhones, according to new data from mobile phone refurbishment company SellCell.

Over half of all U.S. consumers [surveyed](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumers-hoard-9-billion-in-old-iphones-2013-02-15?cid=djem_sm_dailyviews_t) by the company have two or more unused cell phones in their homes, which equates to an estimated trade-in value of $33.8 billion. Apple's iPhone models account for approximately a quarter of the stockpile.

While only 20 percent of consumers responding to the survey trade in or recycle their old mobile phones, Apple products tend to be refurbished and resold at higher rates. Of the top 10 types of mobile phones recycled last month, variants of the Apple iPhone took the top four spots. The high resale value of Apple products, versus those from other OEMs, contributes to both the high trade-in and resale rate.

[ ](http://e-stewards.org/)

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