52% Indian Consumers Have Two Or More Unused Or Old Devices In Their Household: Survey

A new survey on Tuesday found that more than 52 percent of consumers have two or more unused or old devices at home, gauging consumer attitudes toward selling pre-owned phones and awareness levels about proper disposal procedures for non-functioning phones.

According to re-commerce marketplace Cashify, 36 percent of consumers who didn’t get rid of their phone wanted to keep them as a spare phone for work and emergencies, while 25 percent didn’t get a good price for their device in the market.

Nakul Kumar, Co-founder of Cashify said, “While the average consumer is aware of the processes leading to the disposal of old devices and is willing to take the extra step, a small percentage of users are still reluctant to dispose of their old phones owing to data safety and their prior disposal methods.”

“We hope that with our whitepaper and user survey, we shall make people aware of the pros of buying refurbished and encourage people to start selling their old phones instead of storing them in their drawers,” added Kumar.

About 10 percent of respondents shared that they lack knowledge about what to do with their old devices, while only 3 percent shared their concerns about data protection when selling their old devices. The report stated that 62 percent of respondents changed their devices within 1-3 years (54 percent) due to upgrading their devices with advanced technology and features.

It also said that among respondents who bought a refurbished smartphone in the past two years, 85 percent said they would buy a refurbished device again. About 70 percent bought a refurbished phone because of the affordability, 12 percent respondents bought it as an extra device and 13 percent brought home a refurbished device as a gift for a loved one, the report, which included 8,000 consumers across pan-India, said.