Assurant’s latest mobile trade-in data shows that the best smartphones are being pulled into reuse and refurbishment channels sooner as the scrap stream is getting thinner and rougher, and value is moving upstream fast. For phone makers and their telco partners, the same trend strengthens trade-in as a sales engine, providing upgrade incentive and customer-retention tool, while also increasing the importance of device pricing, buyback logistics and residual-value management.
In 2025, US consumers received more than $6.4 billion through mobile trade-in programs, a 42 percent increase from the prior year and the largest annual total Assurant has tracked since 2015.
The data provides evidence that trade-in has become a primary mechanism for capturing resale value before devices become commodity material, which raises the stakes for sourcing, grading and repair execution.
The Assurant report says the increase reflected newer and higher-quality devices entering trade-in programs, along with consumer timing around major launches, AI-enabled features and competitive trade-in offers. The company said consumers were more deliberate about when they upgraded, and that repair and protection programs helped devices retain value longer and return newer phones to the ecosystem.
Assurant’s annual trends report is centered on smartphones. The most commonly turned-in devices in 2025 were premium 5G models, including iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 variants, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G remained the most frequently turned-in Android model. In Q4 2025, the average age of iPhones turned in declined to 3.76 years, while Android devices surpassed 4 years on average.
The quarterly flow strengthened through the year. Assurant reported $1.24 billion in trade-in value in Q1 2025, $1.34 billion in Q2 2025 and $1.59 billion in Q3 2025, totaling about $4.17 billion through the first three quarters. The company then reported $2.2 billion in Q4 trade-in value, the highest fourth quarter total on record. Through Assurant-supported trade-in and upgrade programs, the company claims that more than 39,600 metric tons of electronic waste have been diverted from landfills and 10.3 million metric tons of CO2 emissions avoided since 2009.
From the perspective of ITAD and electronics recycling, the report should be seen as another data point confirming that trade-in and upgrade programs are now primary mechanisms for upstream value recovery in mobile devices. The strongest units are being captured earlier, while devices that reach downstream processing are more likely to be older, damaged or unsuitable for direct reuse. That increases the importance of fast grading, repair triage, resale capability and sourcing relationships that can secure access to higher-value inventory. This essentially signals that value is moving upstream, and the companies closest to the consumer transaction are best positioned to capture it.
