iPad Air release sparks rise in tablet trade-ins

Websites are seeing a huge increase in consumers trading in Samsung Galaxy tablets and older iPads to try and buy newer models

By Radhika Sanghani 31 October 2013 • 1:16pm

Apple's new iPad Air is thinner, lighter and more powerful than its predecessor

Apple's release of the iPad Air has lead to a 585 per cent increase in table trade-ins, research shows.

Nearly one in six people (15 per cent) of the 1,000 consumers surveyed by sellmymobile.com are planning on trading in their current tablet in the next three months.

Of these, 78 per cent plan to purchase a new tablet using the money from their existing device and 38 per cent will be getting the new iPad Air when it is released on 1 November.

The Google Nexus 7 (11 per cent) and iPad Mini 2 (9 per cent) were the second and third most desired tablets that people plan to upgrade to.

^{Apple's new iPad Air is thinner, lighter and more powerful than its predecessor}

The most recycled tablets are the Samsung Galaxy Note and Apple iPad 2, as they top the list of most traded-in overall tablets on the site.

The iPad 4 64GB 4G is currently the most expensive current tablet on sellmymobile.com with consumers being able to recycle it for as much as £323.

Colin White, managing director of sellmymobile.com said: “The new iPad Air sees one of the most significant changes to the iPad’s hardware that we have seen in a while – it’s light, thinner, faster and as tablets continue to increase in popularity, it’s not surprising that gadget-obsessed Brits are starting to upgrade them in the same way that we have seen with mobile phones in the past.

"As they cash in on old devices they are able to then upgrade to the latest model."

Top 10 most wanted tablets in the UK

1. iPad Air

2. Google Nexus 7

3. iPad Mini 2

4. Google Nexus 10

5. Samsung Galaxy Note

6. Kindle / Kindle Fire

7. Microsoft Surface

8. Another tablet model

Top 10 most recycled tablets in the UK (and their highest trade-in prices)

1. Samsung Galaxy Note (£300)