Even though Samsung is the world’s largest maker of smartphones, it does not necessarily make the most money in the industry. That honour goes to Apple. As such, there are two ways the company can continue making money off its smartphone business: by making more and more new smartphones or refurbishing older smartphones and offering them in the market afresh.
The latter option is something that Samsung’s rival, Apple, has managed to do so well since it runs a comprehensive iPhone upgrade program. Other device makers do the same too. Samsung, too, runs a similar program in select markets like the US and Korea and as such, is said to be mulling a similar approach.
According to a Reuters report, Samsung will be taking high-end Galaxy smartphones returned by users upon completing their yearly cycle and refurbishing them before returning them back in the market. This could be happening as early as next year. Since they will be refurbished models, the devices are expected to be heavily discounted and could result in increased demand.
So on one side, Samsung could stir some action in the market and gain some more market share while at it since it is a no-brainer to desire the Galaxy Note 7 in November 2017 when it costs half of the crazy $900 price tag it goes for right now. On the other hand, this could in effect eat into sales of newer Galaxy smartphones.
