The market for refurbished smartphones are booming and the likes of Kogan, Dick Smith, OZMobiles and Certified Tech Direct are ranging hundreds of models and they are not coming from Samsung.
The big question is where do these models come from? and whether they are certified, for the Australian market.
ChannelNews has been told that a large percentage of the refurbished models come from overseas and are not certified for the Australian market.
Samsung Australia issued a statement to ChannelNews that claimed that “Samsung Electronics is aware of third parties selling refurbished Samsung smartphones in Australia but denied supplying any of their popular smartphones to third parties.
“Samsung Electronics does not refurbish its devices in this country, nor do we sell refurbished smartphones to our retail partners or consumers in Australia”. 
“While some retailers may sell devices that are described as an “Australian model”, this doesn’t necessarily mean the products were supplied directly from Samsung Electronics”.
The spokesperson went on to say that “Samsung has a broad portfolio of smartphones at a range of price points so our customers can purchase a new device with the very latest and best mobile technology, at a price that suits them. Furthermore, the smartphones Samsung Electronics sells here are optimised for the Australian networks and we provide a two-year warranty with all our devices”.
“We encourage customers to purchase their Samsung products from Samsung.com or our retail partners to ensure they have the best possible mobile experience on our devices”.
In the USA Samsung is openly selling refurbished smartphones online.
One of the major stumbling blocks is that it appears that called ‘Aussie” smartphones are not ACMA certified and secondly their warranty does not state that a consumer buying one of their cheap devices are going to get the same protection as a cheap Samsung smartphone that comes with a warranty that complies with Australian consumer laws policed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
ACMA or the Australian Communication & Media Authority are supposed to be the policing body for the certification of smartphones in Australia.
Recently Counterpoint Research has released its outlook of the global refurbished smartphone sales for 2020 and 2021, they revealed growth of over 4% which is more than the numbers predicted for new smartphone growth.
The overall performance in 2020 was better than the previous year, 2019, which globally saw a decline in demand for refurbished smartphones.
Counterpoint said that as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many countries worldwide experienced substantial dips in their economies, with significant job losses reported in all the regions. This could have contributed to the rise in the patronage of refurbished phones.
They said that ‘Resell volumes and trade-ins were observed to have gone up in all regions’.
They also revealed that the average selling price of Apple refurbished phones was up to three times higher than the average of other brands and that the more extensive rollout of 5G technology across 150 mobile operators in 70 countries did not affect the increased appetite for Apple phones.
ChannelNews has asked Ruslan Kogan whose Kogan business also own Dick Smith online to comment, we are still waiting for a reply.
Certified Tech Direct claims that they are an Australian owned and operated company.
“We are specialists in providing new, used and ex-demo mobile devices. We find the best quality technology in Australia, put it through an in-depth industry-leading testing, inspection and grading. Every device that comes to you is covered by our 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee and a 12 Month Warranty or Manufactures Warranty”. 
