The numbers are in for the opening weekend of Apple’s new iPhones: 10 million sold in just three days. That’s a lot of new iPhones, and a large number of them are going to people upgrading from older cellphones.
So where do those millions of used gadgets wind up?
A sampling of data from GameStop, EcoATM and Gazelle, companies that resell used electronics, shows that around the time a new iPhone makes its debut, plenty of people sell their old devices or trade them in to save money on their new iPhone.
Those phones that are not sold often end up being stashed in sock drawers or given as gifts to friends or family members, some research suggests.
GameStop, a video game retailer that buys and sells used electronics and games, said it held a trade-in event last weekend. In three days, it accepted more than 15,000 devices. The items that were traded in
the most included the more recent iPhones, like the 5, 5S and 5C, the company said.
EcoATM, a company that buys used cellphones through a network of kiosks, said that since the release of the iPhone on Friday, it had seen an 80 percent increase in iPhone trade-ins at its 1,100 kiosks in the United States. It declined to say how many devices it accepted over all.
Gazelle, a reseller that allows people to mail in their used electronics for cash back or credit on Amazon, said it was making 180 offers a minute in the week leading up to the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on Friday. The iPhone 5 accounted for 38 percent of the devices being traded in ahead of the release. Gazelle also noted that in the week Apple introduced the latest iPhones, the number of trade-ins of Samsung products tripled compared with the week before.
Many older devices are not traded in at all. A study by OnePoll, a research company, found that about 54 percent of American consumers say they own two or more unused cellphones. The study estimates that Americans own about $34 billion worth of used cellphones.
Apple also offers a trade-in program at its stores, working with Brightstar, a company that buys and sells used electronics. An Apple spokeswoman declined to provide the number of old iPhones that were traded in over the weekend.
On an earnings call last year, Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said he liked the environmental aspect of the trade-in program, adding that the high resale value of older iPhones made it a “win-win” for buyers and sellers.