In the course of yesterday, information appeared indicating that Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), is going to start a program in the US to allow users to exchange their old iPhones for new ones by paying a certain amount. Basically users who have upgrade credit available with a US carrier can go to one Apple Store to change one iPhone old with a new one, the Apple company intending to offer including terminals iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C through this program, but only as soon as it has enough units in stock.
A customer brings a working, non-liquid-damaged iPhone into an Apple Retail Store. It's then evaluated by an employee with the help of an online site that a customer can access using the store's iMacs or iPads. The customer then answers a series of questions about the condition of the device in order to determine a value. That value can be used in credit for a new device but only if the customer has an upgrade credit available. So there is a carrier check involved. If a user does not have an upgrade credit, they could presumably pay the early termination fee of their carrier and use the credit towards a new device on another carrier.
Until now, everything resembles a classic trade-in system in which the user loses money by offering an iPhone at a lower value than the market value, but getting rid of the worry of selling it online. Things change if we consider the intentions of those from Apple, because cthe company plans to sell old iPhones at low prices in emerging markets. Offering them to customers without money at very low prices is an interesting move, but only under the conditions that Apple will market them as refurbished terminals and not as new terminals.
Used iPhones collected in the US will only be resold in emerging markets, where Apple's share is lower and demand for cheap devices is greater, said one of the people. That way, the resale of Apple's older models won't cannibalize iPhone 5 sales in the US, the person said.
Apple's strategy is interesting and will most likely help the company to substantially increase its market share in poor countries, but the success of the campaign will be directly related to the number of people willing to exchange their old terminals for new ones.
