An acute shortage of new smartphones in the market, exacerbated by stalled customs clearances of Chinese cargo, has caused a sharp uptick in demand for refurbished and pre-owned devices ...

But a rising trend for refurbished phones threatens to derail that recovery in the coming years. Last year, the average selling price of refurbished smartphones in emerging markets such as China ...

Replacing that hype is a new kind of hype: for old iPhones. The global market for refurbished smartphones grew by 5% year over year from 2021 to 2022, according to Counterpoint Research.

People are selling old phones with TikTok installed for as much as $50,000, and the boom is growing, as Google and Apple have removed the app from their online stores.