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Recycled Handset Shipments to Exceed 100 Million Units in 2012

Shipments of recycled handsets (old handsets recycled for reuse) are expected to exceed 100 million units in 2012, according to a recent study from ABI Research. Shorter handset replacement periods, growing demand for low-cost handsets in emerging markets, regulatory requirements, and growing consumer awareness are key factors driving the market for recycled handsets.

ABI Research industry analyst Shailendra Pandey says, “Mobile phone recycling companies such as ReCellular, Fonebak, and Eazyfone are witnessing good market growth, but increasing consumer awareness and retrieving used handsets at affordable prices are still key challenges. Also, the ASP of used handsets falls rapidly, so these handsets need to be handled at the lowest possible cost to ensure decent margins on their resale.”

Handset vendors including Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG are concentrating more on designing and manufacturing mobile phones to ensure that they are easily recyclable and contain a minimum of hazardous elements. This is being complimented by the efforts of mobile operators, retailers, recycling companies, charities and various take-back schemes, resulting in more users starting to return their old, no longer used handsets for recycling.

ABI Research expects the market for recycled handsets to grow steadily in the next five years, generating over $3 billion in revenue in 2012. Having these handsets in their portfolios can help mobile operators and MVNOs in optimizing customer profitability by better management of subscriber acquisition costs. They can use recycled handsets to address low ARPU subscribers and use new expensive handsets to target the high ARPU customers.

ABI Research’s recent study "Handset Recycling and Refurbishment" focuses on the growing market for recycled and refurbished handsets and the associated opportunities and challenges for handset vendors, mobile operators, recycling companies and retailers. It discusses the high level business and marketing issues, and critical considerations for addressing this market. It also provides detailed shipments and revenue forecasts for recycled and refurbished handsets as well as ethical disposal of handsets from 2005 to 2012. [ABI Research]

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