Samsung Plans To Sell Refurbished High-End Smartphones In 2017 (reuters.com) 84
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd plans to launch a program to sell refurbished used versions of its premium smartphones as early as next year, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The world's top smartphone maker will refurbish high-end phones returned to the company by users who signed up for one-year upgrade programs in markets such as South Korea and the United States. Samsung would then re-sell these phones at a lower price, the person said, declining to be identified as the plan was not yet public. The person declined to say how big a discount the refurbished phones would be sold at, which markets the phones would be sold in or how many refurbished devices Samsung could sell. It was not clear to what extent the phones would be altered, but refurbished phones typically are fitted with parts such as a new casing or battery. Refurbished phones could help vendors such as Samsung boost their presence in emerging markets such as India, where high-end devices costing $800 or so are beyond most buyers. Samsung's refurbishment program, details of which the person said could be finalized as early as 2017, could help the firm generate revenue from dated high-end smartphones returned by users upgrading to newer versions.
Really? (Score:1)
How does the cell phone industry not already do this? Every other industry already does this except the sex toy industry.
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Yeah!
I mean, there definitely isn't an industry for used underwear or anything.
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Yep, reselling phones is super common in SE Asia. Tons and tons of little stores and kiosks everywhere selling refurbished phones alongside the new ones. I've bought several there and never had a problem. Practically every single street in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam has these resellers, and of course they also sell the SIMs and SD cards as well.
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This would be a good thing - if Samsung were going to commit to security updates on their official refurbs for a reasonable lifetime based on the purchase of the refurb as a 'new' device for its purchaser. While a year old Samsung flagship might compare favorably with a new 'flagship killer' from OnePlus or ZTE or Asus, the new mid-ranger would at least offer a reasonable chance of keeping up with vital updates.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Every other industry already does this except the sex toy industry.
Have you looked at what Amazon sells?
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They do. you just dont buy them direct from samsung. you can always buy refurbs from carriers. And any warranty return for a new phone is always replaced with a used refurb.
My favorite part of buying a $600 phone is getting a used one that is all scratched up
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They do. you just dont buy them direct from samsung. you can always buy refurbs from carriers. And any warranty return for a new phone is always replaced with a used refurb.
My favorite part of buying a $600 phone is getting a used one that is all scratched up
Spot on. People miss such such an obvious thing, I have to wonder about their reading comprehension skills.
Obviously. . . (Score:4, Insightful)
. . . the success of this program will depend on the models sold, and the price. I already see refurbed Samsung S3's, S4's, and S5's for a reasonable price [ting.com]. If they stay competitive with the market, and I'm thinking Refurbed S6's at a ~$350. price point, this could be successful. But they're going to have to leverage some added value: say, a decent warranty and perhaps the latest build of Android to differentiate themselves from the existing refurbished markets. . .
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You may want to skip S6, it was quite a misstep by Samsung (no waterproofing, no SD card, no removable battery compared to S5). They have gone back on some of that in the next generation.
Re:Obviously. . . (Score:5, Interesting)
Duly noted. We're still using S3s, which we bought refurbished for 89.95. . . . Still see little point in paying the Bleeding Edge Tax. . .
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If you're security conscious then it's not a "bleeding edge tax" as much as an "security updates tax".
Though admittedly the number of wild exploits of Android bugs have been insignificant if not non-existent.
Not just asia (Score:4, Insightful)
They should sell refurbished products for cheaper elsewhere too. It's not like less wealthy people only exist in asia.
"where high-end devices costing $800 or so are beyond most buyers"
You could say this about most of eastern europe, including the states in the EU. The average salary in my country is around 7000 USD / year so not many people can afford even 400 phones.
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I have a high end phone dipshit. Just because I can afford it, I can't look out for other interests apart from mine.
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And of course I mean I can look out for other interests.
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7000 a year? No wonder everyone and their dog is pushing towards the west...
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No no. Capitalism is terrible. Socialism is the best. Islam is the best. Just because it has never worked just means the "real" version hasn't been implemented.
The only reason they want to move west is because of the war... it has nothing to do with the better everything.
You know that there is capitalism everywhere in europe, right? There wasn't real socialism long before the iron curtain has fallen. We had capitalism since around the sixties. The fall of the iron curtain was nothing more than a formality for us. We've been going shopping to the west long before that.
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Dude, the 1990s called and want to talk about you updating your knowledge. Every country in Europe has been doing the capitalism dance for at least 25 years now.
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$1.00 for a really good lunch compared to our $10.00? yeah their cost of living is a LOT lower.
you dont die if you dont have a $800 smartphone.
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$1.00 for a really good lunch compared to our $10.00? yeah their cost of living is a LOT lower.
Bingo. I can take my whole extended family (about 8 of us) out for a very nice 5-course dinner for about $50 or so. A tuk-tuk to take us back home across the city is ~$5. Rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in the heart of the city is about $300 a month. Phone and internet service costs about $30 a month.
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How much is to have nice girl love you long time? Fucky sucky?
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How much is to have nice girl love you long time? Fucky sucky?
I don't know what they would charge a toad like you. Probably a lot.
On the other hand we could always ask your mom and get a price quote direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak.
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She say you too beaucoup.
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100% free if you don't have a completely repulsive personality.
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Wow! Where do I move to? Considering that it doesn't matter where I work, I could earn my local salary, live on like 500 a month and rack up the dough for early retirement!
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Wow! Where do I move to? Considering that it doesn't matter where I work, I could earn my local salary, live on like 500 a month and rack up the dough for early retirement!
Exactly, that's the long term plan for my wife and I; sell our house, cars, and all our stuff and retire to Cambodia or Laos with a pile o' money.
You can live fairly well in Cambodia, Vietnam, or Laos on $500 to $700 a month.
With an income of $1,200 a month you can live a very good, very comfortable life.
Above $2,000 a month you could live like a king in a gorgeous villa.
World-class medical care is readily available in Vietnam and Thailand at a fraction of the cost of what it is in the US. A $10,000 medical
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Now let's all be glad the US fucked up in the war there, they probably would have ruined that opportunity if they won...
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That's utter bullshit. A good lunch starts at around $5 and then you didn't buy any drinks and only a main course.
Sounds ok (Score:3)
Sounds ok if the price is right and they replace the batteries since the battery is both sealed and glued down tight inside the chassis. There is no hard case around the battery so if you try to wedge it up, it is very easy to snap it apart releasing the gel inside. They also have to disinfect the phone with UV light or something since people hold the phone close to their face coughing and spitting into the handset and taking it to the toilet with them.
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Samsung and HTC glue the battery behind the LCD so you damage the screen trying to get it out, and they have the awesome effect of screen cracks when they swell at end of life.
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Samsung is no better than Apple nowadays. They used to have a replaceable battery, which gave them a big advantage but they lost it when the S6 came out.
According to iFixit, the iPhone 6S has a much better reparability score than the Galaxy S7. (7/10 vs 3/10).
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Which is really irrelevant since no one uses the terms "I" "fix" and "It" when talking about phones. It's typically a discussion of "I replace it" or "the genius at the bar gave me a new one".
I used to fix phones for people. People didn't care. A broken screen was an excuse to get the newest model. A broken battery was rarer than rockinghorse poo.
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The program starts in 2017 and it is to refurbish highend phones returned by users who signed up for a one year upgrade program. So it's fair to say these will mostly be recent phones like the S6, S7, note 5 (there was no note 6) and note 7 phones. None of these have user replaceable batteries and they are sealed and glued down inside the case. Your knowledge of Samsungs flagship phones is out of date.
I can see it now. (Score:2)
Refurb Employee 1: "We need to cut costs.. but how?"
Refurb Employee 2: "Do we really need to replace the two-year-old battery in this one? Can't we just code some VW-hacks?"
Refurb Employee 1: "I like your thinking!"
Hidden bonus (Score:2)
You get a nice phone and all the personal identity information left behind by the previous owner that the refurbishment procedure missed. Bargain.
And there will no doubt be something available in the Android Market to delve into memory and configuration looking for any snippets of information left behind.
Right (Score:2)
I'm sure a corporation so huge that its gravitational field affects governmental policy will do right by this lower income demographic.
Back in the real world, it is very expensive to be poor.
Gee, I wonder.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Will Samsung 'update' the software in the refurbished phones so they can push ads to them, the way they did with their 'smart' TV's?
The Future Society (Score:2, Insightful)
First order citizens are the ones with the new smartphones, second order citizens are the ones with once refurbished phones, third order citizens are the ones with twice refurbished and so on. Smartphone voting and banking is only possible with the latest security updates installed, leaving the second order citizens and beyond increasingly without the rights and basic services. All Hail to the Glorious Nation of Smartphonya!
Re:The Future Society (Score:4, Funny)
Finally a trickle-down theory that actually works, yet you're complaining again. Can't satisfy you commies, can we?
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Smartphone voting and banking is only possible with the latest security updates installed
That depends on the security risks. So far much of the security problems fixed by updates have yet to be exploited in the wild, while people with the latest and greatest secure devices happily install a computer game which needs permissions to access every corner of your phone without question.
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You know I could get in to something like this (Score:4, Interesting)
But only if they'd start releasing OS updates for their older hardware. Given that Samsung drops support after just 18 months, I don't think I'd want to buy a refurb since it is going to get updates for, at most 6 more months. If I am going to get something with no updates, I'd want it for actual used market prices, which is to say really cheap.
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Why? What are you hoping to get out of the upgrades? New features are so incredibly mediocre that it's barely worth the effort. Security improvements are all but irrelevant in a world where people are so happy to install malware masquerading as legitimate software that nearly all security exploits never see working exploits in the wild.
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Well personally I've been quite happy with a number of the new features. Also security isn't irrelevant to me, given that I do work to keep my device secure by updating it, by running security software, and be screening what I install and only installing things I need.
I am talking about MY interest in something and ya, having new versions of software is something that I consider. If I'm getting a new device that is something I want.
No Warranty (Score:4, Insightful)
It'll be another opportunity for Samsung to ignore the warranty they supposedly provide on refurbished products.
Samsung is Not Trustworthy (Score:2)
Another reason to design in a replaceable battery (Score:2)
To me, any non-replaceable battery, gives a device very finite life. For cell phones, it is usually about 18-24 months. If you think I'm going to buy a refurbished cell phone that that doesn't replaceable battery, you are bat shit crazy.
Galaxy Note 3 Was Samsung's Best Phone (Score:2)
Most of the rest that came later were worse: sticking pens, no Micro SD, and now: soft screens.
Phone Insurance Plan (Score:1)
Hc thc hành k toán (Score:1)