iPhone Trade in Program Allows for No Money Down iPhone 5

By Justin Sarachik, Christian Post Reporter Friday, June 07, 2013

Starting this month, Apple is beginning an old iPhone trade-in program for users to receive the new iPhone 5.

The exchange program is being run in conjunction with Brightstar, a mobile phone distributor, reports NYPost.

The company has already worked with AT&T and T-Mobile as well as other smaller carriers.

"This will help them sell more phones, because it will lower the consumer's out-of-pocket expense," said Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics LLC in Dedham, Massachusetts, reports Bloomberg News.

"The overall size of this market is increasing rapidly," said Israel Ganot, chief executive officer of Gazelle Inc., an online mobile device trade-in company.

Currently AT&T is giving $200 for working iPhone 4s and 4Ss, which will allow users to get the iPhone for no money down.

11 percent bought a new smart phone after a trade in, a number that will be probably be about 20 percent this year, according to Ganot.

Although an official trade-in program has not yet been named by Apple, they currently feature a recycled phone program on their website, where you can get older Apple products.

Apple is focusing more on refurbished and recycled phones now because of the increasing popularity of Samsung devices which have surpassed sales for the iPhone in recent months.

According to Bloomberg News, Apple sold 37.4 million units last quarter, and another 35.1 million a year earlier.

"The iPhone is an iconic device that people around the world want to own," said David Edmondson, CEO of eRecyclingCorp, another trade-in processor. "If they can't afford a new Mercedes, they'll get a used one."