Samsung to reportedly sell refurbished premium smartphones next year

According to a new report Samsung is planning to launch an official program to sell refurbished smartphones. Reuters reports that the company will introduce refurbished smartphone sales program as early as next year.

Samsung is already making profits with its new smartphones but the latest move is expected to drive the profits further for strong quarter results.

The report says that Samsung will offer refurbished version of its premium smartphones from the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series at a reduced price to customers who can't afford them at full price. The company will refurbish high-end smartphones returned to the company by customers who signed up for one-year upgrade program, which are available in countries like South Korea and the U.S

There are no details on the discounts, Samsung will offer on refurbished handsets or in which markets the program will be available. For Samsung selling refurbished phone could help boost its profits, especially in markets like India, where premium smartphones are out of budget for most customers.

Samsung's rival, Apple already sells refurbished iPhones in the U.S, which has a resale value of around 69 percent of its original price tag. It's worth mentioning that Apple submitted a request to Indian government to sell refurbished iPhones in the country, but got rejected. If India is one of the market, where Samsung plans to sell refurbished phones, it will be interesting to see if it gets green signal or meet the same fate as Apple to sell used phones.