Apple's iPhone 4 most traded-in smartphone of 2013

The iPhone 4 was the most traded-in smartphone of 2013, with owner Apple the brand most consumers chose to exchange for cash

Data collected throughout last year found the 16GB version of the model made up an average 8.94 per cent of all smartphone trade-ins throughout the year, peaking at 9.82 per cent of all trade-ins during the year's final quarter.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 and S2 i900 followed in second and third place, whilst the iPhone 4S (16GB), 5 (16GB), 3GS (16GB) and 4 (8GB) also made appearances in the top 10.

This dominance led to Apple becoming the most traded-in brand of mobile phone, with an average of 28.9 per cent of all trade-ins being an Apple device.

Samsung was the second most traded-in brand, averaging 19.95 per cent of all trade-ins, followed by BlackBerry with 15.3 per cent.

Apple's iPad 2 (WiFi, 16GB model) was the top traded-in tablet of last year, making up 9.3 per cent of exchanged tablets. In fact, eight of the top 10 traded-in tablets were iPads, averaging 74.16 per cent of the sector, with cameo appearances from the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 in second position and the Nexus 7 (16GB) in sixth.

High trade-in monetary value and increasing memory capacity in newer models is likely to be the reason behind such a high trade-in rate for Apple devices.

However BlackBerry Z10, which was worth £315 in the January of 2013, averaged only £100 by December - a depreciation of £215. Samsung's Galaxy S4's value fell by £161 throughout the course of the year, from £406 to £245.

The data compiled by comparemymobile.com also found six of the top ten mobile phones with the highest trade-in values were devices released that year, with BlackBerry's Porsche Design P9981 model offering the highest trade-in value at £500.

Due to this particularly high value, BlackBerry was the top brand in offering the highest value for a smartphone, followed by Apple with a highest price of £480 and Samsung with £406. Motorola owners may be left disappointed, after their handsets only attracted a high of £151.

Source: telegraph.co.uk