Samsung will reportedly sell refurbished phones
The world's largest phone manufacturer is said to be looking for ways to maintain its market lead.
Samsung could capitalise on the success of the Galaxy S7 with a refurbishment program.
The expensive Samsung phone you've always dreamed of owning might soon be available at a snip of its original price.
The phone giant is set to launch a refurbished phone program as early as next year, Reuters reported on Monday, citing "a person with direct knowledge of the matter."
Samsung, which recently launched the expensive Galaxy Note 7, is reportedly cooking up ideas to help it sustain current earnings momentum and boost cost efficiency. Growth in the global phone market is stagnating, but the Korean giant has weathered the storm better than most and reported its strongest earnings in two years last month -- a trend it will hope to maintain. A refurbishment program would help the company make more money on each phone it manufactures.
High-end phones owned by customers on one-year upgrade contracts will reportedly be refurbished once they have been returned to Samsung and will then be resold at a lower price. Rival Apple has a similar scheme. It's not clear how much of a discount customers buying the refurbished Samsung phones would get, or which countries they will be sold in.
"Samsung does not comment on rumor or speculation," a company spokeswoman said in a statement.