A consultant who helps develop consumer electronics trade-in programs says the computer chip crunch is helping to fuel secondary device markets.
Guennael Delorme, principal of Consumer Electronics/Life Extension (CE/LX) Advisory, wrote in a Linkedin post about how COVID-19’s impact on supply chains and demand has affected markets for new and used electronics.
One result is a global chip shortage, which is working to constrain supplies of new electronics, particularly lower-end ones. Meanwhile, working and studying from home has increased demand for electronics, putting upward pressure on prices.
On the used equipment side, ever-more-popular trade-in programs are boosting the supply of used devices, and consumers are becoming more willing to buy used electronics.
The end result is retailers are able to fetch higher prices for used devices.
“Overall and unsurprisingly, we can expect the current chip shortage to be very beneficial to the whole re-commerce/2nd life industry,” Delorme wrote. “With few barriers to entry, the competition will continue to intensify.”
