Recycling biz reckons AI features are destroying smartphone resale values

Smartphone makers love touting AI, but the technology may be quietly destroying resale values.

According to UK used device website Compare and Recycle, Samsung's Galaxy S25 lost 63 percent of its resale value after 12 months, reversing a multi-year trend of Samsung flagships depreciating more slowly with each generation. The culprit, Compare and Recycle believes, is AI.

"The Galaxy S24 was the first Samsung model to have Galaxy AI features, said chief product officer Lee Elliott. S"ince then, Samsung has heavily marketed the on-device and cloud-based AI tools of the range, such as live translation, generative photo editing, and AI search."

He argues that positioning AI as a core selling point rather than background functionality has backfired badly.

Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal agrees the dynamic plays out differently across markets.

"Samsung's AI premium holds up with early adopters but fails in the refurbished market, where mid-range ...