Assurant, Inc. — a global protection company that safeguards and services connected devices, homes, and automobiles — has released its Assurant 2024 Mobile Trade-in and Upgrade Industry Trends Report, which tracks the evolution of the secondary device market.
The report suggests that AI is potentially emerging as a higher priority in consumers’ decisions to upgrade devices in 2025, as newer devices became the top turned-in devices in the second half of 2024.
According to the report, which incorporates data from Assurant’s Device IQ analytics platform, as well as broader industry insights, consumers who turned in their devices in 2024 received greater value from trade-in programs, with U.S. consumers receiving a total of $4.5 billion in value. This represents a 5% increase over 2023.
In the first quarter, the data showed that consumers were holding onto their devices longer than the previous quarter, with the average age of turned-in devices exceeding 3.6 years. There was then a shift in Android device age after the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy 24 going from 3.67 years in the first quarter to 3.38 in the third quarter.
Similarly, the average age of Apple iPhones reached 3.78 years in the second quarter and declined to 3.63 years in the fourth quarter on the launch of the iPhone 16. This reduction in average age that coincides with the launches of AI enabled devices could indicate “early adopters” turning in newer generation 5G devices for the latest AI enabled smartphones.
According to the report, here are the upgrade trends for 2024:
- Shift in most-turned in devices – While the iPhone 11 remained the most frequently turned in device from trade-in and upgrade programs overall in 2024, it was overtaken in the second half of the year by the iPhone 13.
- Galaxy S21 remains top Android device – For the second consecutive year, the Samsung Galaxy S21 was the most turned in Android device. However, the Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G moved to the second most turned in Android device for the year and the top Android model turned in during the second half.
Assurant’s own Connected Consumer Trend Report reveals that nearly half of U.S. consumers expect their next smartphone to support AI features, services, and tools, with roughly 20% considering AI to be “very important” to their purchase decision. With nearly 11% of U.S. consumers reporting a recent upgrade and approximately 16% planning to upgrade within the next six months, by midyear one third of U.S. consumers expect to own an AI-enabled device.
When data from Assurant’s Connected Decade research is combined with the notable decline in the average age of Apple and Android devices turned in through trade-in and upgrade programs towards the latter half of the year, the data suggest that demand for the new generation of AI-enabled devices could accelerate upgrade cycles.
In addition to the financial benefit for consumers, for every device that is reused in lieu of a new device manufactured, there is a positive impact on the environment. Using estimates from Assurant Carbon IQ, an Assurant solution that provides insights on the carbon impact of individual connected devices, approximately 1.8M metric tons of carbon emissions have been avoided because of trade-in and upgrade programs in 2024. Furthermore, approximately 6M metric tons of devices were kept out of landfills.
The Assurant 2024 Annual and Q4 Mobile Trade-in and Upgrade Industry Trends Reports are available for download here.
