Apple to launch Android device trade-in program to encourage iPhone upgrades

[Nineshadow]

In a move to boost iPhone sales, Apple will soon introduce a new recycling and trade-in program that will accept non-Apple smartphones, notably including Android and BlackBerry devices, in exchange for gift cards to be used toward the purchase of new iPhones. In continuing to court Android switchers, Apple will use a similar system to the one it uses to repurchase iPhones, whereby Apple Retail Store employees determine trade-in values for devices by considering their cosmetic and functional condition, according to multiple sources…

 

The new program will begin in the coming weeks, following extensive training programs for retail store employees that will begin later this week. Apple employees will be able to transfer address book contacts from the rival smartphones to the iPhones, but other data will have to be moved by customers. Apple originally launched the iPhone Reuse and Recycle trade-in program in mid-2013 to encourage upgrades from older iPhone models to the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, and the iPhone 5c.

 

Over the past couple of years, Apple has offered upgrade events to boost sales and rapidly expanded the program from the United States to Canada, Europe, and Australia. The results have been marked upticks in iPhone sales, including multiple record-breaking quarters. Last summer, Apple rolled out a version of the program centered around the iPad, which is not available in all countries. However, the Android device trade-in program will be available in multiple countries, including the United States and United Kingdom.

 

While Apple’s iPhone trade-in program is known for its consistency and convenience, the pricing is typically not up to par with some of Apple’s competitors in the smartphone trade-in space.Amazon’s trade-in program provides instant online quotes and a free shipping label for phone trade-ins, covering a wide variety of different smartphones and other electronics; Gazelle also offers aggressive trade-in prices for cell phones. Apple does tweak its algorithm with partner BrightStar for iPhone trade-in prices, however, so it is likely that rival smartphone prices will be adjusted over time.

 

SOURCE

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Apple seems to be kind of scared by Android, even though their profits on the IPhone 6 and 6 Plus were and still are huge. I guess it's putting pressure on the sales of upcoming Android flagships, like the Samsung S6 or the HTC M9.

This post has been promoted to an article

[werto165]

"upgrades", do less with something that costs more. 

[minibois]

Hahahaha.. No thanks..

[Freaky_spider]

you can be sure the price will be too low....

[Laputacake]

Even though I wonder how they would react to a bag full of old bricks.

[Bogica]

No, thanks. Just one big NO. How do you expect Android users to get accustomed to an entirely closed of OS?

[LukaP]

I myself think its a stellar move. 

1. The iPhone 6 is a great phone and anyone not seeing this is a blind fanboy
2. Android doesnt really seem to be going down a path it started on, its becoming more and more fragmented, and version 5 isnt really that great, for a new version

And on the iPhone, i would bet 95% of you can do all the things you do on your droid, just in a closed ecosystem, where when you get an app, you know it will work and not crap on you like on Android

 

@ShadowCaptain did i miss something

[LukaP]

No, thanks. Just one big NO. How do you expect Android users to get accustomed to an entirely closed of OS?

yes, because a vast majority of the android users arent already treating android as just a thing, exactly like iOS. you have your phone. you have your app store. thats all you need. 

 

very little people actually root and do stuff with their phones.

[Victorious Secret]

I myself think its a stellar move. 

1. The iPhone 6 is a great phone and anyone not seeing this is a blind fanboy
2. Android doesnt really seem to be going down a path it started on, its becoming more and more fragmented, and version 5 isnt really that great, for a new version

And on the iPhone, i would bet 95% of you can do all the things you do on your droid, just in a closed ecosystem, where when you get an app, you know it will work and not crap on you like on Android

 

@ShadowCaptain did i miss something

 

You didn't miss a thing. People who go on and on about "oh I can do more on Android" are just grasping at straws. Both can do roughly the same crap that everyone needs done. 

 

Why can't people just pick what they like? Why do people need to defend their purchases so badly? Why do people need to shove their purchases down everyone else throats? 

 

Only neckbeards on the internet actually act out like this. The real world is filled with people who just buy whatever and don't spend time arguing why they did. 

 

Its pathetic to see the bickering and the "LOL ANDROID" and "LOL APPLE" crap that goes around. That people actually think like that and actually act out like that. Amazing. Sad, but amazing. 

 

I've never actually gotten those "you could've gotten a Android" nonsense in real life. You know what I get? "Oh, how is that to use? Nice? I got this, I like it". The end. None of this fanboy bickering that the children of this site want me to think happens. Its a fucking phone. 

 

Stop attaching your self worth and identity to it. 

[Bogica]

yes, because a vast majority of the android users arent already treating android as just a thing, exactly like iOS. you have your phone. you have your app store. thats all you need. 

 

very little people actually root and do stuff with their phones.

I do quite a bit and apple devices have given me so many headaches over the years. From installing CCTV software on them (part of the work I do), they won't allow me to install anything outside the store, they are very limited, the apps are generally worse for iOS (those I use). And most of the stuff that is free on Android has a shitty or paid version for iOS. Can't deny that. Now, saying that it's a bad OS isn't true, it has it's pros and cons. Compared to Windows Phone I find iOS worse, WP with every update get's faster while iOS slows down their older models, iPhone 4/4s is now useless (used it recently) from all the lag and loading. Now you can argue that some Androids never update, but the high end devices run smooth still, unless you are completely retarded and run the device into the ground with junk etc.

But now you are going to argue jailbroken iPhones that work fine, well guess what, jailbreaking is not an option when you are working with clients.

 

 

 

You didn't miss a thing. People who go on and on about "oh I can do more on Android" are just grasping at straws. Both can do roughly the same crap that everyone needs done. 

 

Why can't people just pick what they like? Why do people need to defend their purchases so badly? Why do people need to shove their purchases down everyone else throats? 

 

Only neckbeards on the internet actually act out like this. The real world is filled with people who just buy whatever and don't spend time arguing why they did. 

Also, as a former WP users that switched back to Android for a while, I'll be heading back to WP in a few months, I'm just using what is best for me.

Simple and friendly= iOS

Customizable and awesome hardware& features= Android.

[ShadowCaptain]

I myself think its a stellar move. 

1. The iPhone 6 is a great phone and anyone not seeing this is a blind fanboy
2. Android doesnt really seem to be going down a path it started on, its becoming more and more fragmented, and version 5 isnt really that great, for a new version

And on the iPhone, i would bet 95% of you can do all the things you do on your droid, just in a closed ecosystem, where when you get an app, you know it will work and not crap on you like on Android

 

@ShadowCaptain did i miss something

 

 

I think I agree, honestly I don't care about it being a closed system, literally the only downsides to my iPhone is that i cannot run emulators and such but that is hardly a reason to not buy a phone besides without proper controls like my nvidia shield they are horrible to use anyway

 

the iPhone is super powerful, lovely to use, well built, lovely feeling, great camera, great software, amazing app store etc etc etc

[LukaP]

snip

that is literalyl the exact description of a thing that very little people do. so you wont go iOS. I myself will, because i use my phone for SMS/FB/Call/Internet, and a VAST majority of people do the same. a REALLY REALLY VAST minority do anything that needs any kind of OS alteration at all. 

[Bogica]

that is literalyl the exact description of a thing that very little people do. so you wont go iOS. I myself will, because i use my phone for SMS/FB/Call/Internet, and a VAST majority of people do the same. a REALLY REALLY VAST minority do anything that needs any kind of OS alteration at all. 

 

I think I agree, honestly I don't care about it being a closed system, literally the only downsides to my iPhone is that i cannot run emulators and such but that is hardly a reason to not buy a phone besides without proper controls like my nvidia shield they are horrible to use anyway

 

the iPhone is super powerful, lovely to use, well built, lovely feeling, great camera, great software, amazing app store etc etc etc

 

Agreed on both of those. However, I love the iPhone 5/5s design and hate the new one. Looks dull!

Yes but quite a few consumers need a few extra things that don't work at all or well on iOS which is a huge problem.

[ShadowCaptain]

Agreed on both of those. However, I love the iPhone 5/5s design and hate the new one. Looks dull!

Yes but quite a few consumers need a few extra things that don't work at all or well on iOS which is a huge problem.

 

I like the design of the iPhone 6, i think its beautifully elegant, it doesn't have to be flashy

 

honestly 99% of consumers DONT need anything that the iPhone cant do

[razor767]

This actually seems quite interesting.

[LukaP]

Agreed on both of those. However, I love the iPhone 5/5s design and hate the new one. Looks dull!

Yes but quite a few consumers need a few extra things that don't work at all or well on iOS which is a huge problem.

 

name me 2 things that an android stock phone with an appstore can do, that most consumers need, that an iphone cant

 

I like the design of the iPhone 6, i think its beautifully elegant, it doesn't have to be flashy

 

honestly 99% of consumers DONT need anything that the iPhone cant do

this

[werto165]

I like the design of the iPhone 6, i think its beautifully elegant, it doesn't have to be flashy

 

honestly 99% of consumers DONT need anything that the iPhone cant do

The reason I chose android is for the tinkering. I like to mess with everything from the animation speed, control over everything from the CPU clock speed to the governor on the CPU, both of which improve battery life drastically. You can enable app by app profiles for desired performance. Native screen recording, which can be very handy for when my parents have a question I can just send them a video with touch to them to show them what to do. Another note on the tinkering side of things is that you can set up gestures, for example a great gesture is that you can draw a V on the screen whilst it's off to turn on the flash light, no need for some silly app, I know that apple devices have the control centre whatever its called where you swipe up to acess these sorts of things, but gestures in my mind can be done with little to no thought what so ever. Also being heavily invested in the google eco system would make it hard to change to iOS or windows. Sure android can be fragmented, but I've had good experiences with it, both the nexus 4 + OnePlus One have been superb, but the nexus 4's camera sucked, then again I don't take my photos so I'm not bothered. Perhaps I'm the 1%... reading over it again..

[Bogica]

name me 2 things that an android stock phone with an appstore can do, that most consumers need, that an iphone cant

 

this

Not sure for the latest iOS. But have they finally allowed BT file transfer? How is flash support doing? I heard they just recently allowed 3rd party keyboards (not that anything is wrong with the stock one, I prefer stock myself). Not exactly up to date but those are some of the issues I had while working with it. Can you just plug to PC and file transfer now? I know the 4s couldn't do that. Can you record phone calls without JB? All business users asked me for this and I couldn't find a solution without JB and paying several $ for the app.

[LukaP]

Not sure for the latest iOS. But have they finally allowed BT file transfer? How is flash support doing? I heard they just recently allowed 3rd party keyboards (not that anything is wrong with the stock one, I prefer stock myself). Not exactly up to date but those are some of the issues I had while working with it. Can you just plug to PC and file transfer now? I know the 4s couldn't do that. Can you record phone calls without JB? All business users asked me for this and I couldn't find a solution without JB and paying several $ for the app.

1. Who the hell still uses BT for anything but accessories?
2. How is Flash doing? oh yeah, dead, killed by HTML5
3. I adored the stock keyboard of 7
4. Probably not, but most Android makers make you use their crap too (and the normal consumer wont know they can do it in the explorer by just having the drivers)
5. no idea, a vast majority of users dont care, and business users should do business calls on company phones that are made for that anyway

[Bogica]

 

1. Who the hell still uses BT for anything but accessories?
2. How is Flash doing? oh yeah, dead, killed by HTML5
3. I adored the stock keyboard of 7
4. Probably not, but most Android makers make you use their crap too (and the normal consumer wont know they can do it in the explorer by just having the drivers)
5. no idea, a vast majority of users dont care, and business users should do business calls on company phones that are made for that anyway

 

1. Everyone, from syncing with car MMI systems, file transfers on the spot (contact info, pics, videos, audio files etc.) it's a lot more convenient than uploading somewhere and the other person downloading it.

2. Not everything is HTML5, Youtube just recently adopted it and it's not fully implemented. It's the future but it's not getting adopted as fast as we want it to be.

3. Agreed.

4. Not really, you can plug as mass storage ANY Android device, while syncing requires sync over Google or software from manufacturer (barely anyone uses it).

5. Vast majority- NO. Business users- YES. Not everyone wants to carry around several phones and trust me, they want call recording or they want it as soon as you mention the possibility of it. Small business owners also, but you didn't take that in mind, you just thought of big corporations didn't you?

[LukaP]

1. Everyone, from syncing with car MMI systems, file transfers on the spot (contact info, pics, videos, audio files etc.) it's a lot more convenient than uploading somewhere and the other person downloading it.

2. Not everything is HTML5, Youtube just recently adopted it and it's not fully implemented. It's the future but it's not getting adopted as fast as we want it to be.

3. Agreed.

4. Not really, you can plug as mass storage ANY Android device, while syncing requires sync over Google or software from manufacturer (barely anyone uses it).

5. Vast majority- NO. Business users- YES. Not everyone wants to carry around several phones and trust me, they want call recording or they want it as soon as you mention the possibility of it. Small business owners also, but you didn't take that in mind, you just thought of big corporations didn't you?

1. i find it way faster to just plug the usb or the 3.5 jack into the car and its done. havent seen anyone share files like that since 2010
2. most of the flash that still exists is adds. so i dont care if i dont see it
3. well yes thats what i said, but samsung has Kies, lg has their thing, sony has it... and they get you to download it, and most consumers do, remember, those are people like your mom and dad, average Perica who has no idea about tech
4. k
5. thats what i said. business users will have business phones for business calls, with recording setup if they need it. 

[Bogica]

 

1. i find it way faster to just plug the usb or the 3.5 jack into the car and its done. havent seen anyone share files like that since 2010
2. most of the flash that still exists is adds. so i dont care if i dont see it
3. well yes thats what i said, but samsung has Kies, lg has their thing, sony has it... and they get you to download it, and most consumers do, remember, those are people like your mom and dad, average Perica who has no idea about tech
4. k
5. thats what i said. business users will have business phones for business calls, with recording setup if they need it. 

 

1. Nope, people still do. How would they share otherwise? It's more practical and faster via BT...

2. Riiiiight...

3. You misplaced 3&4.

4. Not really, they offer but ok...

5. Nope, Business users aren't just rich fat corporate people, they are small shop owners also...

[spartaman64]

what do you get in return 10 dollars giftcard? 

[Victorious Secret]

@LukaP the fact that people still use "but it has flash" as a excuse is hilarious. 

 

If a site uses Flash, I won't use that site. Plain and simple. Flash is straight up outdated and stupid in the face of far better things that are out there. 

 

Maybe the best thing Apple ever did was tell flash to pound sand. 

[LukaP]

1. Nope, people still do. How would they share otherwise? It's more practical and faster via BT...

2. Riiiiight...

3. You misplaced 3&4.

4. Not really, they offer but ok...

5. Nope, Business users aren't just rich fat corporate people, they are small shop owners also...

1. umm im not sure about you but here, noone shares crap anymore, if you want some picture, its on facebook, or they send it over whatsapp, or crap like taht. same for music and video
2. seriously, disable flash and browse the internet. apart from a few sites, most dont have it anymore.
3. i have
4. yes, you plug in your phone and it downloads drivers, and asks you if you want the software suite from the manufacturer. and the average consumer will say yes, and they get their version of itunes
5. i know they arent. and business phones arent galaxy s6 either. from what ive seen in small businesses, its either old phones, or low end ones they get for cheap, but almost always, every important employee gets one