Refurbished phone sales to grow post Covid-19 lockdown

Refurbished mobile phone sales are expected to rise post lockdown as people are tend to lose a permanent source of earning in days to come. as expected, millions are going to remain unemployed as the uncertainty looms over early resumption of work. The mainstay of Indian population, agriculture, is in despair, so are seasonal labourers, they are yet to find a way of earning due to the extension of lockdown. Therefore, the major attracting segment, budget smartphones, will be the worst hit category. The feature phone market will definitely see an upswing post Covid-19 lockdown. “at the moment, when everyone is going very cautious with spends while the uncertainty about job prospects and future keeps lingering on, every prudent consumer would want to try out a refurbished smartphone in case it’s unavoidable to replace the existing phone/smartphone,” said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst at techarc.

The manufacturing sector, other than essential items, is shut too that employs a huge chunk of workforce, thus majority will not have a purchasing power at all. They would either downgrade to feature phones or go for refurbished phones and that’s really going to help the grey market as well. But Faisal thinks, “The issue however is how many of these people would be there. also, there would be concerns about the hygiene of a used phone compared to a new one, out of box phone, especially in present times when health and safety is supreme to everything.” as both retail and e-commerce are focussed on essential items, the sale of mobile phones take a backseat, people will directly engage for the sale and purchase of refurbished phones. The GST has also been increased on smartphones, from 12 per cent to 18 per cent, thus making them costlier than before. This could be a reason too that would forbids the potential buyers going for a new phone.n