At least one resale site is seeing a flood of customers dumping their Samsung devices, as the resale value for Android-based smartphones is reportedly taking a hit after Apple’s $1.05 billion patent win on Friday.
According to online electronics resale site Gazelle.com, the amount of people unloading their Samsung handsets jumped 50 percent over the past three days, causing a 10 percent drop in prices for the devices, reports MarketWatch.
The driving force thought to be behind the sales is Apple’s overwhelming win against Samsung, which was found to have infringed on six of Apple’s design and utility patents.
Gazelle.com chief gadget officer Anthony Scarsella says that consumers seem to be jumping ship, and that Gazelle expects the trend to continue.
Experts believe the recent court decision is creating instability in the Android market as consumer worry about what will happen when they upgrade their devices. A sudden change, or removal of a feature could put off would-be upgraders.
Android users can no longer be sure of a stable feature set.
NextWorth.com reports that the price drops are in addition to the already low resale value of Android devices. The Samsung S II sells for the same amount ($199) on contract as the 16GB iPhone 4S, but currently on has a $90 resale value. The iPhone 4S sells for as much as $300.
The situation will probably only get worse as Apple goes after a sales ban of eight smartphones by Samsung.
