It was rumored back in August that Apple was going to launch an iPhone trade-in program of its own. Third party retailers had offered such programs for quite some time, this was believed to be Tim Cook’s move to increase iPhone sales being made at the company’s own retail stores. Apple launched the program that month, allowing customers with older models to trade-in their smartphones. Up till now the program has been exclusive to stores in the U.S., though a new report suggests that the program might soon be expanded into the UK and Europe.
Apparently Apple has started preparing training materials for retail store staff in the UK to get them up to speed with the iPhone trade-in program. Training has reportedly begun in a small number of outlets, complete roll out is expected over the next couple of months. The entire procedure is quite simple, customers take in their old iPhone and are offered a value based on the condition of the device. Retail store employees will look at a number of factors such as water damage, screen quality and hardware damage. Once the customer accepts the value for their old iPhone, they’ll be given a gift card of the same value which must be put toward the purchase of a new iPhone. Customers can’t use the gift card for anything else being offered for sale in the store, they have to purchase a new iPhone. No word as yet exactly when Apple intends on launching the program beyond U.S. borders. The UK is a logical place to expand into next, given the fact that after the U.S., it has the highest number of Apple Retail Stores.
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