Apple Will Offer iPhone Trade-In Programme – Report

Apple is reportedly in discussions to create a trade-in programme aimed at getting users to upgrade from older iPhones to the iPhone 5 and increase its market share in emerging markets.

The Cupertino-based company is apparently in talks with Brightstar, a mobile phone distributor that handles similar programmes for US carriers AT&T and T-Mobile.

AT&T offers as much as $200 for working iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S units, which Apple would let customers put towards an iPhone 5. If Apple takes up the idea as a manufacturer, the programme would only be available at Apple retail stores offering suers instant payments and letting them avoid the hassle of shipping off devices.

iPhone trade-in programme

Apple has so far been uninterested in trade-ins, but appears to have changed its mind as it seeks to increase its market share not only in developed markets, but also in emerging markets where there is still demand for older, cheaper iPhones.

By importing more smartphones into these countries, Apple could ensure that some first-time smartphone buyers don’t automatically choose Android handsets. The company has frequently been rumoured to be preparing a cheaper iPhone to increase its market share, but such a smartphone has yet to materialise.

It also might not be able to sell some of the devices in the US anyway given that older iPhones could be subject to a possible ban for infringing Samsung’s patents.

Samsung is currently the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, but the suggestion is that Apple is keen to expand its market share as it prepares to release services to mobile phones, possibly including the rumoured iRadio music streaming service.

Apple will hope that these measures will reverse slowing growth rates which have seen its shares slide by 38 percent since hitting a record high last September as investors fear that the rapid growth enjoyed by the firm since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007 is now over.

CEO Tim Cook has been keen to reassure shareholders that Apple can continue to innovate by promising that it has “game changing” products in the pipeline, but he has so far not disclosed any specific details.

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