iPhone recycling program already good business for Foxconn

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): Hu Guohui, who is responsible for Foxconn's iPhone recycling program, said the scheme has been well received in China and will generate reasonable profits for the company, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Commercial Times.

Response to the program has been better than company boss Terry Gou had expected and to 1.2 million reconditioned iPhones may be sold each month, Hu said. Foxconn officially initiated the program on Wednesday after a year of evaluations.

Ifengpai, a Foxconn subsidiary, has began accepting preorders for reconditioned iPhones since Monday and can start shipping as early as this weekend, said Hu, who added the company will also open bricks-and-mortar stores.

Hu said the company's engineers tested all iPhones coming in, refurbished their exterior and replaced broken or malfunctioning parts with new components. The company also provides a one-year warranty on the phones.

The program's chief also addressed complaints that Ifengpai's prices for used iPhones were lower than in the United States and the company was exploiting the difference to make more money. Hu said Ifengpai bought a used iPhone 5S for 1,500 yuan (US$240), higher than the 1,100 yuan (US$170) offered on average in the US. The company sells a refurbished iPhone 5S for 2,099 yuan (US$330), but this price also includes reasonable costs such as marketing, testing and fixing the phone, uU said.

The company is the first platform for selling reconditioned iPhones in China, said Hu. In the past, used iPhones were recycled in Europe, the US and Japan and around 80% of them were sold at auction in Hong KOng's Hung Hom district and then repackaged and fraudulently sold as brand new, he added.

Foxconn is the trading name of the Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry, which manufactures the iPhone for Apple under contract chiefly at its production plants in China.

Courtesy: www.wantchinatimes.com