Secondhand smartphone market sees growth in Korea

The secondhand smartphone market is enjoying a bump from recent releases of flagship models from Samsung and Apple.

According to Bungaejangter on Friday, a South Korean mobile secondhand marketplace, the volume of transactions for used smartphones has reached some 100 billion won as consumers switched to new phones. Used phone transactions have become the most traded category on the platform during the first half of this year so far.

The company said the “secondhand market has been energized” as Samsung’s Galaxy Z Series enjoys popularity and Apple recently announced iPhone 13 series.

On Bungaejangter, iPhones are the most popular models, racking up 2.5 million searches.

The iPhone 12 was the most sought after model, followed by the iPhone 11 and iPhone XS.

“iPhones tend to fluctuate less in price compared to products from other companies,” the platform said.

“When the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 series were released, the secondhand previous models were being sold at 70 percent of their original price.”

The Galaxy Z series is also enjoying growing popularity, particularly the Galaxy Z Flip, which has appealed to smartphone users who like to decorate their phones.

Related keywords such as “Z Flip strap” or “Z Flip case” were searched for more than 780,000 times during the last month.

“The emergence of platforms such as Bungaejangter, which allows users to check the market price and trade with transparency, is expected to see the trade volume of secondhand and unlocked phones continue to increase,” Pyo Byung-hoon, the head of the company’s digital business division said.

Launched in 2011, Bungaejangter’s total volume of transactions reached 1.3 trillion won last year.

Its business motto is to create a “world where trading becomes as easy as breathing.”

In April last year, the app secured 56 billion won in funding as well as an additional 30 billion won from Shinhan Financial Group earlier this month.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)