Getting more from every device: why trade-in is becoming increasingly important

Consumers are keeping their smartphones for longer, while the cost of upgrading continues to put pressure on household budgets. For mobile operators, retailers and manufacturers, this changing behaviour is making effective trade-in and recommerce programmes an increasingly important part of the customer proposition.

The latest Assurant Q2 2026 Mobile Trade-In and Upgrade Industry Trends Report provides a useful indication of how the market is evolving. In the US, mobile trade-in programmes returned $1.43 billion in value to consumers during the second quarter of 2026, while the average age of iPhones being traded in surpassed four years for the first time.

While the data reflects the US market, the trends behind it have wider relevance for businesses operating in the UK: consumers want to maximise the value of the technology they already own, make upgrading more affordable and keep devices in use for longer.

Longer replacement cycles create a new challenge

The increasing age of traded-in devices demonstrates how smartphone ownership is changing. Consumers are becoming accustomed to keeping devices for longer, making it even more important for businesses to engage customers at the right point in the device lifecycle.

As Biju Nair, EVP and President, Global Connected Living at Assurant, explains:

“Consumers are getting more life out of their smartphones than ever before, but trade-in timing matters. As component costs continue to put pressure on new device prices, trade-in programs play an increasingly important role in helping consumers offset upgrade costs.”

For UK mobile operators and retailers, an effective trade-in proposition can therefore play several roles. It can help reduce the effective cost of a new device, provide customers with a compelling reason to upgrade and strengthen the overall relationship between a brand and its customers.

Value is extending beyond smartphones

Trade-in is also becoming about more than the smartphone itself.

Assurant’s Q2 findings show that premium smartwatches continue to retain meaningful residual value, demonstrating the potential for trade-in and recommerce programmes to encompass a broader range of connected technology.

As households accumulate more connected devices, there is an opportunity for businesses to think beyond traditional handset trade-in and consider how they can help customers realise value across their wider technology portfolio.

Supporting a stronger secondary market

The other side of the trade-in equation is the growing secondary device market. Strong demand for high-quality refurbished smartphones helps support residual values while making technology accessible at different price points.

This creates an increasingly circular device ecosystem. A smartphone that one customer no longer needs can be repaired, refurbished and returned to the market, extending its useful life rather than becoming electronic waste.

For businesses, delivering this effectively requires much more than simply collecting devices. Repair, logistics, processing, data-led decision making and access to appropriate resale channels all contribute to maximising the value recovered from each device.

Assurant brings these capabilities together to help partners manage devices throughout their lifecycle. AI-driven insights can help route devices towards the channels where they are most needed, supporting stronger recovery values and helping quality devices find their next user.

Turning device lifecycle management into an opportunity

As replacement cycles lengthen and affordability remains an important consideration, trade-in has the potential to become an even more valuable part of the customer experience.

For UK operators, retailers and manufacturers, the opportunity is to create an integrated approach spanning protection, repair, trade-in, refurbishment and resale.

Done effectively, this can help businesses recover more value from devices, support customer affordability and loyalty, strengthen the supply of quality refurbished technology and extend device lifespans. There's an added bonus too: setting up a trade-in programme doesn't cost much, and it can bring in extra revenue when devices are resold on the secondary market.

Rather than viewing the end of a customer’s ownership of a device as the end of its value, the growing recommerce market provides an opportunity to make that value work harder – for customers, businesses and the wider circular economy.

Discover the latest findings in Assurant’s Q2 2026 Mobile Trade-In and Upgrade Industry Trends Report.