The iPhone 11 was the most traded-in smartphone of 2021, with the iPhone dominating the top 10 most traded-in phones, according to a new report from Sellcell, a site for selling phones online. The iPhone 12 Pro Max held its value best last year, while the Motorola One Hyper lost the most value.
Most traded-in smartphones
According to SellCell:
° Apple’s iPhones took 9 places in the top 10 most traded-in handsets of 2021, with the iPhone 11 topping the table. The iPhone XR took second place, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max taking third spot.
° The iPhone 12 Pro Max, along with being the third most traded-in smartphone, held its value best in 2021, losing only 31.7% of its value since launch.
° Motorola fared poorly in 2021; three of its handsets appeared in the top five smartphones with the highest depreciation, losing a whopping 85.7% of its value. The Motorola Razr didn’t perform much better, losing 85.3% of its value.
° Males make up a significantly larger percentage (64.61%) when compared to females (35.39%) who traded their tech in 2021. Almost double, in fact.
° Age-wise, those between 25-34 years traded in the most tech, accounting for 28.04% of all tech traded in 2021. By contrast, those aged 65+ only account for 6.57% of traded tech.
° Consumers traded tech furiously on September 14th, which coincides with the day Apple launched the iPhone 13 series smartphones.
Smartphones With the Highest and Lowest Depreciation in 2021
SellCell also tallied the smartphones with the highest and lowest depreciation rates in 2021. The company calculated the value based on handsets launched in 2020. Here are the highlights:
° The 12 Pro Max lost only 31.7% of its value during 2021.
° The Google Pixel 5 also fared pretty well, although losing almost 50% of a smartphone’s value isn’t exactly fantastic, either. Still, it is good enough to give the Pixel 5 fifth spot in the top five smartphones with lowest depreciation.
° Of the top five smartphones with highest depreciation, Motorola handsets were some of the worst performers. The Motorola One Hyper lost a staggering 85.7% of its value in 2021, performing worst out of any handset traded in during 2021. The Razr is also a sorry state of affairs, with 85.3% of its value down the pan last year. The Motorola One 5G lost 83.8% of its value, and takes fourth spot.
° LG handsets didn’t fare well either. The LG Velvet 5G was in third place, and the LG V60 THINQ in fifth place for most depreciated smartphones.
Most Traded-In Operating System of 2021
Apple devices featuring iOS software accounted for 58% of all traded-in smartphones in 2021 based on operating system. Android made up 42%.
Most Traded-In Tablet of 2021
The iPad Pro 12.9 4th Gen was the most traded-in tablet of 2021. Why is that unsurprising? Alongside the iPhone 13, Apple also launched two new iPads on September 14; the iPad 9 and the iPad mini (2021).
Apple fans had been looking forward to an updated iPad and iPad mini, so it’s likely they traded in their tablets to make space for Apple’s latest tablet.
