The COVID-19 pandemic has brought global supply chains to a standstill. The consequences of this could be felt across multiple industries, but one industry that was hit the hardest was the semiconductor sector. From smartphones, vehicles to modern appliances, laptops, computer processors and graphics processing units use semiconductor chips.
Many companies have been unable to keep up production numbers at the same level as prior to the pandemic due to the shortage. This has resulted in a massive lag between demand and supply of many fast-moving electronic appliances like smartphones and laptops.
Indian start-ups have come up with a way that sidesteps the ongoing semiconductor crisis. They are turning to refurbished devices to meet demand. While Indian customers used to steer clear of second-hand and refurbished devices, the shortage of electronic appliances like laptops and phones has boosted their demand.
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"In laptops, 65-70% of the demand came from the business side. In the past, all these companies used to buy new smartphones or use device farms of Amazon Web Services (AWS) or other such services. Now they get a refurbished device at 30-40 percent discount; a very significant portion of our SMB demand is actually coming for smartphones, especially on the testing side," Mandeep Manocha, co-founder and CEO of Cashify, told Mint.
A major part of the demand comprises rental and leasing programmes for electronics from SMEs. Laptops, desktop computers are in huge demand in the SME sector while the consumer side overwhelmingly wants mobile phones.
The process of using refurbished devices also solves an intrinsic problem with electronics e-waste generation. Only a fraction of electronic appliances are recycled or reused, with nearly 80 to 90 percent of all appliances ending up in landfills. With the increasing use of refurbished devices, a larger portion of electronic devices are being kept out of landfills.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are also taking advantage of this interest in refurbished devices with companies like Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and HP entering the space providing their own refurbished devices to create circular and sustainable business models.
