It’s a well-known fact that Apple products retain value for much longer than non-Apple products. Or is it? According to recent data from SellCell, things might be changing.
According to its report, SellCell says that iPhones still hold their value better than the competition, but they depreciate faster with every new release. At the same time, Samsung’s flagship models have begun to last a little longer. In fact — and get ready for a lot of numbers — the iPhone has seen almost a 5% drop in value year-over-year since the iPhone 12 was released — and the iPhone 16 is losing value 8% faster than the iPhone 15 and has lost an average of 41.2% of its value in the first two weeks since release. That’s a much greater loss than the iPhone 14 and 15 models, at 33% and 33.2%, respectively.
Taking a look at YoY numbers for the iPhone 11 shows a depreciation of 43.8% in total within the first year of launch. That grows to 46.2% with the iPhone 13 and 48.2% with the iPhone 15.
In comparison, Samsung’s depreciation rate is slowing down. The Galaxy S22 series lost 66.7% of its value in the year after its launch, while the Galaxy S23 lost only 61.7%. That’s a value retention increase of 5.6%. Even the Galaxy S24, which hasn’t been out for a full year yet, is showing an average loss of just 50.4% after the first six months across all models — an increase of 3.7% compared to the S23 within the same time frame.
The reason the phones drop in value isn’t due to lower quality, but increased competition. Samsung is bringing more and more value into each of its new releases with improved functionality, new features, and better build quality. Android’s continuous improvements have made it more approachable to wary Apple users, too, luring even more customers from one side to the other.
It’s an unexpected twist in the market, especially considering the reputation Apple devices have for retaining resale value. It shows that Samsung is making improvements to every iteration of its phones and providing more value to the market, but it doesn’t mean that Apple is producing a worse product. The iPhone 16 is an incredible phone, but so is the Samsung Galaxy S24.
As the differences between the two platforms close, the phone market could largely be a matter of style preference rather than brand loyalty.
