Gen Z Has Always Liked Used iPhones

We here at CIRP have long tracked the market for used smartphones. In our quarterly survey of smartphone buyers, which complements our quarterly survey of Apple customers, we include subjects that acquire either a new or used smartphone. The survey of Apple customers includes only subjects that buy new gear.

So, when Business Insider reported that Gen Z customers have begun to buy used smartphones more than before, and this should concern Apple, we just had to look at our actual data. We confirm that Business Insider has a point, but the data probably shouldn’t alarm Apple.

Overall, about 13% of smartphone users that acquired an iPhone in 2024 acquired a used one. This represents a bit of an increase over recent years. Similarly, about 12% of customers acquired a used iPhone in 2019 (Chart 1).