New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- Turning the mantra of depreciation on its head, refurbished iPhones are actually getting more expensive as they get older. For instance, a two-year-old iPhone 15 is now selling for around Rs.48,000 on refurbished-phone platforms, Mint research across refurbished smartphone platforms such as Cashify, ReFit and ControlZ showed. That is nearly twice the Rs.25,000 that a similarly aged iPhone 12 cost three years ago. More strikingly, a used iPhone 12 is available at about the same price even today, despite having been launched six years ago. The unusual price behaviour shows a combination of rising prices of new smartphones, strong demand for Apple devices and a shortage of phones entering this market. With consumers holding on to their devices for longer, retailers are finding it harder to procure used iPhones even as more buyers eye this relatively affordable way into the Apple ecosystem. According to Yug Bhatia, founder of Gurugram-based used smartphone retail platform, ControlZ, the effect on customers is compounded. "If they want to spend the same amount, they get a much older phone, or else they end up spending double for a newer phone." Used Android smartphones, including those from Samsung, are also seeing a similar trend, but industry executives and analysts said the sharpest increases have been in iPhones. Nakul Kumar, co-founder of Cashify, India's largest used-electronics retail platform, said this trend has emerged over the past six months across laptops and mobile phones, partly because new-device prices have risen with memory-chip costs. "With new devices getting more expensive by 40% or even more in some cases, refurbished and renewed devices are often becoming the only affordable options available for many consumers looking to upgrade their mobile phones," Kumar said. In the case of iPhones, though, he attributed the rise in refurbished prices primarily to strong demand. The demand is showing up in sales volumes as well. The growth in demand is running into a supply constraint that echoes the new-phone market....