India, Oct. 19 -- Ask ten people why they upgraded their phone last time, and a few will admit the old one was working fine. The battery was a bit tired, the camera looked dated next to a friend's, and the launch ads did the rest. Now ask what they paid. The answer usually comes with a wince.

Premium devices have got expensive in a way that's hard to ignore. For plenty of households, a flagship phone costs more than a month's take-home pay, and the price creeps up every year while salaries crawl. Laptops and tablets are no different. So people do what they do with any big purchase. They look for another way in.

Pre-owned is that way in, and a lot of Indians are taking it. Counterpoint Research's H1 2026 Global Pre-Owned Smartphone Marke...