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Seventy per cent rise in iPhone sales anticipated

Monday, October 3, 2011 - 14:05 by Graham Miller

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Online auction giant eBay has predicted that the number of people selling older generation iPhone handsets will increase by almost three quarters in the aftermath of the launch of the fifth Apple smartphone this month.

Apple is likely to give out the first official details about the iPhone 5 later today, which means people will have an idea about when it will be released, how much it will cost and perhaps how much cash they will need to drum up in order to afford it.

On eBay an average of one iPhone is sold every two minutes, which means since the launch of the device family back in 2007, more than half a million have changed hands.

In 2010 the number of people buying used iPhone 3GS handsets actually outdid the number investing in the then freshly released iPhone 4. This suggests that in 2011, the iPhone 5's launch will see a similar state of affairs occurring online and in store.

While many will be looking to squeeze some extra cash from their old iPhone in order to afford the new edition, an equally large pool of people is getting ready to invest in a last generation handset, which is still more than capable enough to be a worthy smartphone companion, according to eBay's Angus McCarey.

Mr McCarey pointed out that the UK's smartphone market is better developed than any other European nation and the explosion of m-commerce is making safe shopping online from advanced handsets one of the most appealing aspects of mobile ownership.

An alternative to selling an old phone on eBay is to use a mobile phone recycling web site, such as Mazuma or envirophone.  The savviest consumers check mobile phone recycling comparison sites to compare prices across many mobile phone recycling sites.