With today’s nonstop technological innovation, it seems a safe bet that we want to upgrade our phones to new models almost as quickly as they are launched. Amid the churn of constant turnover, however, a subtle yet significant shift is occurring in how we engage with our devices. They are increasingly recognised as valuable, reusable resources, rather than disposable commodities.
Younger generations have obsessed over the latest cutting-edge technology for years. Now, however, there’s a noticeable shift taking place towards sustainability in younger people’s purchasing habits. Research from the GSMA has shown that many young people are holding onto or passing down older phones – sometimes because of nostalgia but also because of the practical challenge of what to do with devices.
Furthermore, with high upgrade costs and fewer groundbreaking features in newer models, the expense of buying new today sometimes doesn’t seem justified. As a result, people are keeping their phones for longer and increasingly interested in buying used and refurbished devices. Many phones are seeing a second or third life, with nearly a third of smartphone owners globally are now choosing to pass on their devices to family and friends and nearly a fifth trading in or selling their used devices.
Why the shift? Young adults are leading the charge
Passing down devices allows people to extend the life of their technology while ensuring their families and friends can stay connected. The GSMA found that this trend is particularly noticeable over the holiday season when families and friends exchange gifts.
Globally, young people (aged between 18 and 34) are driving the shift, while older generations tend to hold on to their devices for longer – with many people content to use the same device for three years or more. However, rising demand for second-hand smartphones, including refurbished models, is helping to balance this trend.
In fact, the formal used and refurbished smartphone market grew by 6% in 2023. 14% of consumers surveyed opted for second-hand or refurbished phones as a more affordable and sustainable choice. This trend is especially prominent in the UK, where nearly 10% of consumers buy refurbished devices compared with the global average of just 4%.
Overcoming emotional connections
Three out of every four people have old mobile devices collecting dust in at home, often as a backup device, and for some, because of important data or an emotional attachment. Over a quarter of consumers keep old devices because they hold personal memories like photos, videos, messages, making it difficult to part with them. They instead remain albums of our personal histories, shaping the way we view them long after their practical use has ended.
Today’s devices no longer need to sit in drawers gathering dust. It’s easy to transfer precious memories and data to new devices, allowing older ones to be wiped and repurposed. As devices and connectivity continue to evolve, data transfers across devices are becoming more seamless and accessible. Over time, the sentimental attachment we have to our older devices is likely to fade.
Small habits bring big changes
The importance of helping ‘re’ habits is tremendous. Recycling devices can reduce the need for new materials and avoid environmental impacts while supporting the mobile industry to move towards decarbonisation goals. Refurbishing or reusing a device can have 90% lower environmental impacts compared with a newly minted smartphone.
According to the GSMA, if properly recycled, five billion mobile phones could recover $8 billion worth of gold, palladium, silver, copper, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals, and enough cobalt for 10 million electric car batteries. Five billion phones represents just half of the devices estimated to be laying dormant in drawers right now.
By using sustainable materials, manufacturers can also help build more robust and secure supply chains while reducing impacts on our planet. We can also interrogate the factors blocking action on phone recovery. There’s much work remaining to address people’s concerns around data privacy, the desire to preserve memories, and the need to keep a backup device.
But progress is happening and it’s encouraging to see. Everyone in the mobile industry has a role to play in this transformation: educating consumers, making the transfer of data across devices seamless, and designing products that put longevity, repairability and recyclability at the centre.
Today, when a parent hands down a used device, or a teen gifts their last model to a grandparent, it’s more than just a practical solution; it’s a doubly generous act that signals a shift away from consumption culture and toward a more sustainable and circular model.
- Sustainability Technology
