Apple Plans To Start First Trade-In Program For Android Phones, Reports

By Kamal Nayan - 18 Mar '15 14:13PM

Apple is planning to start accepting non-Apple devices as trade-ins, according to a new report by Bloomberg.

The report, citing a person with knowledge of the matter, noted that Apple seeks to extend market-share gains against smartphones based on Google Inc.'s Android software.

Apple started a trade-in program two years ago for its own products which is now being expanded to include Android smartphones as well as BlackBerry devices.

Apple is seeking to fuel even more iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales after selling 74.5 million units in the last three months of 2014, up 46 percent from a year earlier. Thanks to record sales, shipments of devices based on Apple's mobile iOS software surpassed Android in the U.S., according to Kantar Worldpanel Comtech, with 47.7 percent of the market compared with Android's 47.6 percent, the report added.

At the latest earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company had more Android switchers in the past quarter compared with any period in at least three years.