Smartphone and tablet marketplace SellCell analyzed trade-in data received from more than 40 buyback vendors to find out if the iPhone is still the best at retaining value. And while iPhones are still the gold standard for holding value, depreciating is hitting recent models harder than models released some years ago.
At the same time, each new Samsung Galaxy S series model is fairing better than the previous one.
iPhone 16 is depreciating 8 percent faster than the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14
The iPhone 16 series lost more value than the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 in the first two weeks. | Image Credit – SellCell
After 2 weeks of release, the iPhone 16 series depreciated 41 percent, losing $468 in value. Over a similar period, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 had both lost approximately 33 percent of their value.
Every iPhone released since the iPhone 12 has retained less of its value than the model before it. The iPhone 15, for instance, had depreciated 48 percent after a year, a 0.5 percent increase over the iPhone 14.
Every iPhone released after the iPhone 12 lost more value than the previous one. | Image Credit – SellCell
The iPhone 13 had lost 46 percent of its value after 12 months, an increase of 2.4 percent when compared to the iPhone 12.
New Galaxy S series models are holding more of their value than older variants. | Image Credit – SellCell
On the other hand, each successive Galaxy S model is losing value more slowly.
12 months post-release, the Galaxy S22 had lost a staggering 68 percent of its value. The Galaxy S23 held 5.6 percent more value than its predecessor during a comparable period.
Since the Galaxy S24 was released in January, a full 12 months of data isn’t available on the phone, but its performance so far has been impressive. After six months in the market, the Galaxy S22 had lost 54 percent of its value in 2022. The Galaxy S23 did marginally better than its predecessor. In contrast, the Galaxy S24 is doing remarkably better, losing only 50 percent of its value after six months.
Smartphones tend to recoup some of their value after initial depreciation, so it’s possible that after the 12-month mark, the Galaxy S24 will retain more value than the Galaxy S23 did last year.
So, even though iPhones still lose value at a slower rate than Samsung’s Galaxy S phones, the depreciation gap is shrinking and if the current trend continues, the gap may eventually flip.
While the report doesn’t speculate on the reason behind this shifting pattern, we have a couple of theories. While iPhones continue to be some of the best phones on the market, they are becoming less exciting every year. The last few Samsung Galaxy S series phones, on the other hand, didn’t leave a lot to be desired. Samsung also provides longer support now, which could be another reason why the long-held depreciation rules are changing.
An average smartphone user keeps their handset for nearly three years, so unless you upgrade your device everywhere, these numbers shouldn’t mean much to you.