Rising gadget prices renew consumer, OEMs interest in refurbished devices

As smartphone and gadget prices climb due to memory cost inflation, more Indian consumers are turning to refurbished devices, supported by organised platforms and OEM-backed programmes

India's refurbished electronics market is experiencing a quiet but significant shift. As prices climb across devices, driven by global memory cost inflation that shows no sign of abating, a growing segment of Indian consumers is beginning to view refurbished devices not as a workaround but as a deliberate choice.

 

The catalyst is well-documented. Global NAND flash and DRAM memory costs have surged in 2026, and OEMs have been passing the burden on to consumers. Prices of smartphones across 21 brands rose 8 to 12 per cent on average between January and May 2026, according to a joint study by Trakin Tech and Techarc. Similar trends are visible across other product categories. The OnePlus Pad Go 2 tablet, for instance, launched at Rs 26,999 and is now priced at Rs 28,999.

 

 

Techarc’s study, based on a survey of 5,958 active smartphone buyers, also found that 54 per cent of intended festive season demand may not convert into purchases if prices continue to rise beyond expectations.

The demand signal

The Trakin Tech and Techarc study found that 6 per cent of smartphone buyers said they would shift to refurbished or pre-owned devices if new smartphone prices rose further. That figure appears modest on its own, but when set against total projected festive volumes, it translates to a meaningful redirection of demand. More significantly, the study identifies a separate category of buyers it calls "Second-hand Curious," accounting for 6.3 per cent of the base and described as consumers open to refurbished as a deliberate value strategy, not merely a last resort.

 

Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst at Techarc, described the trend as an inevitable consequence of what he called "memflation," the sustained inflation in memory component costs that is pushing quality devices out of reach for entry-tier buyers. "It is something that is bound to happen," he told Business Standard, noting that the refurbished market offers not just affordability but the reassurance of structured testing and compliance processes that distinguish it from informal second-hand sales.

Kawoosa also pointed to a more specific data point from the Techarc study: some buyers who had been planning to purchase a new smartphone for the festive period said they would now opt for a refurbished one instead. He framed this not as lost demand for the broader market but as an expansion of the refurbished sector's addressable base.

 

"These were people who were planning to buy smartphones between July and December, but now around 7 per cent of them are planning to buy refurbished ones," he said. "That is now an addition to the addressable market of the refurbished sector."

 

The refurbished market's growth, however, extends well beyond smartphones. According to Market Research Future, India's refurbished electronics market was valued at $14.11 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $48.75 billion by 2035, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 13 per cent. Smartphones remain the largest segment within this market, but laptops are the fastest-growing category.

 

Globally, the refurbished electronics market is expected to nearly double from $68.24 billion in 2026 to $136.40 billion by 2033, according to Coherent Market Insights. It also cited Asia Pacific as one of the fastest-growing regions, driven by increase in demand for refurbished devices in countries like India, China and South Korea.

How the refurbished supply chain works

The interest in refurbished electronics is being met by an increasingly organised supply side. Platforms that once operated in a largely unregulated grey market have built standardised processes that, they argue, close the trust gap with new devices. While smartphones remain the core volume driver for most refurbishers, the infrastructure being built around diagnostics, grading, and certification is increasingly being applied across device categories.

 

Mandeep Manocha, Co-founder and CEO of Cashify, told Business Standard that every device on the platform goes through a 32-point quality inspection covering display, battery, cameras, speakers, microphones, sensors, connectivity, and chip-level diagnostics, preceded by NIST-compliant data sanitisation before the device enters the refurbishment line. Devices are then graded purely on cosmetic condition. "Performance, reliability, and functionality remain consistent across all grades," Manocha said. Pricing is set using real-time market intelligence, factoring in demand, supply, model popularity, age, and prevailing market trends.

 

ControlZ told Business Standard that devices sourced from large-format retailers, e-commerce platforms, insurance companies, and OEMs go through diagnostics, grading, remanufacturing, and quality certification at their Renew Hub facility. The company positions its output as devices made like new, not just cleaned up, with renewed electronics typically priced 30 to 70 per cent lower than their new equivalents depending on model age, condition, brand, and demand.

 

The quality and certification layer matters because it directly addresses the trust deficit that historically constrained refurbished adoption. According to data cited by Coherent Market Insights, 71 per cent of European citizens in a 2020 Eurobarometer survey said they would consider buying a refurbished product if quality was guaranteed. India, which had relied on an unorganised pre-owned market for years, is now seeing a similar sentiment shift as certified players establish themselves across device categories.

The pricing relationship

The connection between new smartphone pricing and refurbished demand is close but not mechanical. Both Cashify and ControlZ emphasise that while movements in new prices set the reference point for the secondary market, the refurbished value proposition operates on its own terms.

 

Manocha noted that when new device prices fall through discounts or festive offers, the price gap between new and refurbished temporarily narrows. But the category continues to offer access to premium models at a significantly lower cost. "In many cases, buyers can purchase a flagship device from the previous generation for the price of a new mid-range smartphone," he said.

 

This dynamic is visible in real-time pricing data. While Flipkart was listing the 512GB iPhone 17 Pro Max at Rs 157,900 on June 18, Cashify had the same model available at Rs 1,38,899 on the same date. When Flipkart's price moved up to Rs 1,62,900 by June 24, Cashify's listing adjusted to Rs 1,39,599. Similar price adjustments were also noticed for other devices such as the OnePlus 15 and Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. This shows that while the dynamic cost of a device affected the price of the refurbished model, the gap widened rather than closed as new prices rose.

Impact of rising component cost

Rising component costs do affect the refurbished market, but Manocha argued that the exposure is relatively limited compared to the new segment. "Higher component costs can increase refurbishment expenses, particularly for critical parts such as displays, batteries, and camera modules," he said, "but refurbished devices are inherently less exposed because they extend the life of existing smartphones rather than relying on new manufacturing."

 

He also noted that rising new device prices tend to strengthen the appeal of refurbished alternatives, as consumers look for more affordable options without compromising on performance.

ControlZ offered a more direct framing: as new phone prices rise due to component inflation, the renewed benchmark rises alongside them, but the absolute saving for the consumer also grows. The value proposition, the company told Business Standard, has only strengthened.

Who is buying, and where

Both companies noted that refurbished demand is no longer concentrated in a single consumer profile or geography. Cashify described growth as broad-based, expanding across customer segments and city tiers, with the shift driven by an increase in organised refurbishment that has replaced much of the earlier unstructured pre-owned trade. The company said demand is growing in both metro and non-metro markets, though it did not provide a city-tier breakdown.

 

ControlZ gave a more segmented picture. It told Business Standard that the highest demand currently sits in two areas: Android smartphones priced under Rs 20,000, and Apple devices across all price points. Apple's presence in the refurbished market is particularly pronounced, the company said, as buyers priced out of new iPhones find the renewed category compelling. On geography, ControlZ said metros including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru lead in volume, but that growth is accelerating fastest in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, particularly in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and smaller South Indian cities.

 

This geographic pattern aligns with what market data suggests about the region's growth drivers. Coherent Market Insights attributed Asia Pacific's expansion in refurbished electronics to large, price-sensitive populations and rising urbanisation, conditions that describe India's Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets as accurately as they describe the continent at large.

OEMs enter the picture

The clearest sign of the refurbished market's growing legitimacy may be that original equipment manufacturers are no longer watching from the sidelines. As reported earlier by Business Standard, Samsung has begun selling refurbished smartphones directly through its own channels, offering the same one-year warranty as new products. For a brand to formally build out a pre-owned vertical is a significant signal, one that both validates consumer demand for the category and introduces a new competitive dynamic for independent refurbishers.

 

Last year, Google also partnered with Cashify to launch an authorised refurbished phone programme and a dedicated smartphone upgrade programme in India. Rather than building a complete in-house vertical, Google through this partnership allows consumers to buy certified, genuine-part repaired Pixel devices and trade in their old phones for new Pixel models.

 

This is also not limited to just smartphones, HP’s Renew Solutions provide certified refurbished laptops utilising OEM-approved parts, while also offering official support for these devices. Both Lenovo and Dell also offer similar services.

The longer trajectory

The drivers behind the current momentum in refurbished demand, memory cost inflation, rupee depreciation, and post-launch price revisions, are not expected to resolve quickly. In IDC's Q1 CY2026 report, Upasana Joshi, Senior Research Manager, Devices Research Asia/Pacific, noted that the global memory shortage is expected to continue into 2027, and that rupee depreciation adds further cost pressure, meaning device prices are likely to rise further across segments.

 

For the refurbished market, this creates an extended window. Consumers who defer new purchases are not necessarily leaving the market. Many are redirecting their consideration toward devices that let them access the performance tier they want at a price point that current conditions make acceptable, whether that is a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet.

 

India has always had a large secondary electronics market. What is changing is the quality of the infrastructure around it, and the profile of the buyer it is now attracting.