Folks not trading-in their iPhones following Samsung’s next big thing announcement

Samsung Galaxy S 4 (white, three up, front, profile, back)

Gadget resellers such as Gazelle may have been eagerly awaiting Samsung’s new Galaxy S 4 in the hope that Apple fans will jump ship and trade-in their iPhones. Thus far, this hasn’t been the case. Quite the contrary – the vast majority of post-S4 trade-ins are for other Galaxy smartphones, not iPhones.

Specifically, Gazelle’s CEO said Monday his company has seen a cool 168 percent increase in the number of the Galaxy S III trade-ins compared to the number of Galaxy S II trade-ins, both observed during the same post-launch timeframe for each device…

Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk on the Street today, Gazelle co-founder and CEO Israel Ganot said most of the trade-in increase his company observed has been driven by customers who already own Samsung phones.

This data point is an indication that the South Korean conglomerate likely won’t see a significant number of converts from the iPhone.

By comparison, shortly after Apple launched its new handset last year, Gazelle saw “an unprecedented spike” in iPhone sales as exiting users scrambled to cash in on their iPhone and upgrade to the new model.

All told, Gazelle saw an 800 percent spike in smartphone trade-ins following Apple’s September 2012 iPhone 5 announcement. This is nearly seven times the increase in Gazelle trade-ins contributed to the Galaxy S 4 announcement.

One caveat: iPhone-related trade-ins usually explode post-announcement because Apple’s handset usually tends to go on sale up to a week and a half after it is announced, while Samsung’s Galaxy S4 won’t become available until end of April.

He also noted (via AppleInsider) people can trade-in a number of Samsung and Apple devices on the Gazelle web site, including iPads, iPods and Mac notebooks and desktops.

Gazelle Samsung smartphone tradeins

In what could be explained as an acknowledgment of the threat of Samsung, Apple on the eve of Galaxy S 4 launch dispatched its marketing honcho to pooh-pooh Android and dismiss Samsung’s new baby.

And that extends to the news we are hearing this week that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is being rumored to ship with an OS that is nearly a year old. Customers will have to wait to get an update.

I understand Apple’s PR has to work “a little harder” to get its message out in a time of intensifying smartphone competition, but Schiller unfortunately didn’t stop there and instead went on to speculate that the S4 won’t run the latest Android Jelly Bean version.

why iphone ad 2

Samsung during the unveiling confirmed the device will ship with Android 4.2.2 so Schiller’s unforced error has clearly backfired.

Shouldn’t Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing know better than make moot points based on rumors alone?

Apple also countered the S4 threat with a new ‘Why iPhone’ campaign comprised of a dedicate web page explaining why people love their iPhones and a corresponding email message sent out to fans.

Did you ever cash in on a used device on Gazelle?

What was your experience like?