Reports are suggesting that Apple is starting an iPhone trade-in program this month in hopes of getting people with older iPhone models to upgrade to the newer iPhone 5 model said people with knowledge of the plan reported by the NY Post.
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Apple and mobile phone distributor, Brightstar, have teamed up to run the exchange program. Brightstar also handles trade-ins for T-Mobile and AT&T as well as other carriers and device makers. By offering money for older smartphones, Apple and the wireless companies are seeking to entice consumers to upgrade to the latest models, while profiting from resales abroad.
"The overall size of this market is increasing rapidly," said Israel Ganot, chief executive officer of Gazelle Inc., an online mobile device trade-in company reports the NY Post.
Could this recent interest in the refurbished market be a way for Apple to introduce a new iPhone? It was reported that in May Apple lost the top spot for best-selling smartphone brand in the U.S. to Samsung. This could be a ploy to get the public interested in iPhones again and when Apple gains that interest they will release their much rumored iPhone 5S or 6.
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The going trade-in rate at AT&T for a working iPhone 4 and 4S is as much as $200, which is enough to let a potential customer or existing customer upgrade to the current iPhone 5 for now money down. Ganot estimated that 20 percent of U.S. customers upgrading their wireless devices this year will do using a trade-in.
Apple or Brightstar has yet to release any information on a trade-in program. It also unknown if Apple will offer the same rate for old devices as AT&T.
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