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GEO, which sells used smartphones, says that since May 2024, “retro iPhones” that are even older than the iPhones sold on the second-hand market have been gradually selling. Currently, the iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation) and the iPhone 11/12 series are selling well on the second-hand market. Even the older models are limited to the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7.
However, Geo is selling even older models such as the iPhone SE (first generation), iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6s. The oldest of these, the iPhone 5s, was released 11 years ago in 2013. Major OS upgrades have been discontinued for all of these models, and although security updates are provided, it is difficult to use them as active models. Despite this, why are they selling so well? We visited Geo Mobile Shibuya Center Street store to find out more.
[Update: November 18, 2024, 8:30 p.m. The OS update description has been partially revised.]
We spoke with Ryo Nakagawa (left) of the Sustainability Promotion Division, Public Relations Department, President’s Office, GEO Holdings, and Masahito Ishikawa (right), manager of the GEO Store Operations Department.
A user’s post sparks a retro iPhone boom
The sales of the retro iPhone at Geo Mobile Shibuya Center Street Store were in the single to double digits from February to April 2024, but in May, sales were three times higher than in April. It all started with a post made by a Korean person on X in May. The post, which said he had bought an iPhone SE for 60,000 to 70,000 won (about 6,500 to 7,500 yen) at Geo Mobile Shibuya Center Street Store, went viral in an instant, receiving about 22,000 reposts and about 30,000 likes.
As a result, Geo Mobile’s Shibuya Center Street store sold three to four times as many retro iPhones in June and July as in May. Sales have since peaked in August and have been slowing down, but compared to before February, when the shelves were barely moving, the demand for retro iPhones still remains.
Today’s smartphones, including the iPhone, have not only improved camera hardware, but also “computational photography” is becoming commonplace, with software automatically correcting image quality. On the other hand, retro iPhones do not correct image quality as much as today, and low-quality photos are sometimes evaluated as emotional. Mr. Masato Ishikawa, manager of the Geo Store Operations Department, says, “By using a retro iPhone and deliberately using a low-quality camera, you can take stylish photos, which is why they are popular, especially among Gen Z.”
The photo on the left is of the sky taken with an iPhone 6s, and the photo on the right is of the sky taken with an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Due to the low resolution of the iPhone 6s, the sky looks like it has been painted over.
The photo on the left is a night view taken with an iPhone 6s, and the photo on the right is an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The iPhone 6s has a harsh image with the bright areas blown out, but looking at it now, when image correction is commonplace, it may actually look fresh.
Around 90% of the people buying retro iPhones at Geo Mobile’s Shibuya Center-gai store are Korean, most of them in their early 20s, and over 90% are women. However, there are signs that the retro iPhone boom is spreading in Japan as well. Nakagawa Ryo of the Sustainability Promotion Division in Geo Holdings’ President’s Office Public Relations department says, “Even in areas like Okayama, there are young people of Gen Z who are buying old iPhones.” “The situation seems to be calming down at the moment, but there is a possibility that it will spread to Japan as well. I feel that if some other opportunity arises, domestic demand will increase next,” says Ishikawa.
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The Shibuya Center Street store is popular with foreign visitors to Japan, and in addition, Korean female idols such as TWICE have been posting on social media that they are using retro iPhones, so it seems that Koreans are buying them more. Therefore, to ensure that the stock of retro iPhones does not run out, they are concentrated at the Shibuya Center Street store. According to Nakagawa, the Akihabara store is also selling retro iPhones, but “the Shibuya Center Street store is close to being out of stock.”
The popular model is the iPhone 6s. Are used smartphones in Japan cheaper than overseas?
The iPhone 6s is a particularly popular device, selling nearly twice as much as other models. The retro iPhone is cheap, selling for around 5,000 yen. In fact, if you were to buy a similar retro iPhone second-hand in Korea, it would cost two to three times as much as in Japan. Since it’s much cheaper in Japan, it seems to have garnered support, especially from Koreans.
At Geo Mobile Shibuya Center Street store, the iPhone 6s is the most popular retro iPhone.
How do overseas users who have purchased retro iPhones use them? One problem is the “SIM lock.” The only iPhones sold in Japan without SIM locks are the “iPhone 13” and later, and the retro iPhones introduced here may be SIM locked. Users can unlock the SIM lock themselves, so they may be unlocked before the phone is purchased, but there are also models that remain SIM locked.
According to Ishikawa, “Some foreigners want to just insert a SIM and use it as is, but the majority of people buy it to use the camera function.” Geo Mobile stocks a mixture of SIM-locked and unlocked models, but as the price card states whether the model is unlocked or not, they tell customers, “If you want to insert a SIM and use the phone, please choose a SIM-free model.”
However, retro iPhones are no longer even receiving security updates, and there are restrictions on the apps that can be used with the old OS. It is difficult to connect to the Internet or continue to use apps, so it is more realistic to use it as a toy camera or alarm.
By the way, I wonder if there is a retro boom like the iPhone for Android, but Nakagawa says, “It’s hard to imagine.” For example, Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy is also popular in Korea, but “I’ve never heard of a Korean person coming to the Shibuya Center Street store to buy a Galaxy,” he said.
The iPhone has a reputation for having a high resale value in the second-hand market, and the fact that retro iPhones are more expensive in Korea than in Japan also supports this. That is why Japanese retro iPhones, which can be purchased more cheaply, are gaining popularity. Many Korean idol groups are well-known in Japan, so it is expected that the retro iPhone boom will spread to young people in Japan.
If you want to buy a retro iPhone, you should visit Geo Mobile Shibuya Centergai store (1F/B1F Takeuchi Building, 28-14 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
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