It looks like people with spare iPhone 4’s lying around are choosing to sell them now before the device becomes obsolete.
Apple is widely expected to officially announce the next iPhone model within the next two weeks. And as anyone familiar with Apple products knows, when the new iPhone is released, all previous models become instantly devalued.
It is perhaps no surprise, then, that electronics trade-in service Gazelle has announced that iPhone 4 trades have seen an 84% spike in the most recent week.
Gazelle chief gadget officer Anthony Scarsella told Cnet in an interview that the iPhone 5 launch “has been so delayed and overdue, there’s definitely a lot more of a hype. For us, this is really an unprecedented behavior, as gadget owners always wait–usually until a new product is announced–to trade in.”
Scarsella also noted that it’s especially peculiar for iPhone 4 trade-ins to jump because a phone is something that you need at all times. The people who are trading in the gadget have most likely already gotten another phone and just want to offload their iPhone before it’s devalued by the inevitable iPhone 5 announcement.
In addition to the iPhone 4, Gazelle is also experiencing a jump in trades for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
This comes as credible reports continue to pop up that Apple will be announcing the iPhone 5 very soon. Most recently, there is speculation that the specific reveal date will be October 4. In addition to unveiling the iPhone 5, it’s believed Apple could also show off another, lower-end model like an iPhone 4S.
