TOKYO, Japan: In historically gadget-loving Japan, the declining yen, which has fallen to a 32-year low towards the U.S. dollar, has put new iPhones out of attain for a lot of consumers and created a rising secondhand marketplace for Apple merchandise.
The yen’s fall has squeezed shoppers and shifted spending patterns on the planet’s third largest financial system, the place Japan’s consumers have develop into extra open to purchasing secondhand, due partly to the rise of on-line public sale websites.
Apple elevated the value of the entry-level iPhone 13 by practically 20 p.c in July, whereas the fundamental iPhone 14 later debuted at 20 p.c greater than the iPhone 13, even because the U.S. value stayed flat at $799.
The yen has carried out particularly poorly towards the dollar, dropping 22 p.c in worth towards the U.S. forex.
Kaoru Nagase wished a brand new cellphone, however couldn’t purchase a brand new iPhone 14, which begins at $814, so he purchased a used iPhone SE 2 in Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district for lower than a 3rd of the value.
“At more than 100,000 yen, the iPhone 14 is too expensive and I just can’t afford it. It would be fine if the battery lasted for 10 years,” he stated, as quoted by Reuters.
Last month, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri admitted that the sturdy dollar had led to cost will increase for its merchandise in some nations, however gross sales had nonetheless grown by double digits in Indonesia, Vietnam and different markets with weak currencies.
According to expertise market analysis agency MM Research Institute, on this monetary yr gross sales of used smartphones in Japan grew practically 15 p.c in Japan to a report 2.1 million items, and it will probably attain 3.4 million by 2026.