Swappie - statistics & facts
Europe's fastest-growing company of 2022, Swappie Oy focuses on refurbishing and selling pre-owned iPhones, thus contributing to the circular economy by saving resources through longer use and repair of smartphones. Founded in Finland in 2016, it operates all over Europe and the United States. In total, more than 282 million refurbished smartphones were shipped globally in 2022. That year, the pre-owned smartphone market was worth roughly 50.5 billion U.S. dollars.
Secondhand online shopping has become favored by consumers in recent years for many reasons, such as lower prices and sustainability. Over half of Finnish shoppers bought pre-owned items in 2022. While clothing, bags, accessories, and books are already common secondhand products, consumer electronics, such as TVs and smartphones, are gaining more popularity within the market. As of September 2023, 10 percent of people in Finland who have bought secondhand items within the past 12 months purchased pre-owned consumer electronics.
Swappie’s growth as a company
Between 2017 and 2020, Swappie managed to record an over 477-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). From its inception, the company successfully increased its revenue until 2021. However, after having peaked in that year, the revenue declined by almost 34 percent in 2022. Furthermore, the number of employees working for the company kept growing constantly over the past five years. Despite its growth in revenue and personnel, Swappie has been facing a negative operating profit margin since 2018. In 2022, the negative operating profit reached its all-time low at 42 million euros.The market for refurbished smartphones is growing
Overall, the electronics recycling market is forecast to grow in the coming years, reaching a size of over 110 billion U.S. dollars by 2030. On a global scale, the market share of refurbished smartphones is expected to follow the trend. While the global market for new smartphones had a negative growth rate in 2022, the refurbished smartphone industry expanded by five percent.Secondhand online shopping has become favored by consumers in recent years for many reasons, such as lower prices and sustainability. Over half of Finnish shoppers bought pre-owned items in 2022. While clothing, bags, accessories, and books are already common secondhand products, consumer electronics, such as TVs and smartphones, are gaining more popularity within the market. As of September 2023, 10 percent of people in Finland who have bought secondhand items within the past 12 months purchased pre-owned consumer electronics.
