How France has become European champion of used and reconditioned smartphone
Perseverance pays. After fighting for years to win on the market, the reconditioned telephone industry is well established in France. More than one mobile in five circulation comes from the second -hand market. According to the second part Recommerce barometerFrench specialist in the reconditioned, France is even far ahead of all its European neighbors from this point of view.
22 % of French people currently have a used smartphone, compared to 15 % on average in other European countries.
A healthy market
Behind hexagon, we find Germany, whose second -hand equipment rate is 17 %, and Belgium which does not exceed 15 %. This comfortable first French place is explained by several factors.
First because French reconditioned industry is today in a dynamic of consolidation. After a decade 2015/2025 deadly in the sector, the market has consolidated around a few big names, as Recommence,, Smaaart,, Largo And Reborn notably. To survive, the latter had to show white leg on the quality of their products and convince the general public that they were trustworthy.
Then, the Back Market compressor roller also played an important role in the democratization of the reconditioned thanks to an all -round communication and the promise of a reliable and accessible reconditioned. If the platform has long been criticized for its wild competition from reconditioners around the world, 10 years after its creation The company led by Thibaud Hug de Larauze is more than more about confidence and qualityeven if it means increasing prices a little.
If the second hand is not limited to the reconditioned (it would be excluded the second -hand market between individuals), this sector is clearly engine in this transition. As a report of the telecoms regulatory authority notes“the share of telephones reconditioned in the total of phones sold in France [en 2023 Ndlr.] is 18 % (+ 1 point in one year), or 3.5 million out of the 19.1 million mobile phones sold on the French market.“”
Money, always nerve of war
But if France can congratulate itself on having a second -hand perennial industry, another major reason for the boom in the second hand in the country is simply due to purchasing power. If the price of the occasion is still and always the first determining factor for purchase, it is more regularly cited among the French and French (72 %) than elsewhere in Europe (66 % on average).
Faced with Germany and Belgium, the argument is particularly flying in France due to a lower purchasing power in the country. Environmental considerations, on the other hand, are cited as determinants by 36 % of the population against 38 % in Germany. Proof if it was necessary that economic constraint is a lever often stronger than ecological convictions.
