The Growth of the EERS Market (and New Opportunities for GES)

The refurbished phone market has grown by leaps and bounds in the past couple of years – as much as 13% year-on-year. But it’s not the only industry experiencing a boom.

The electronic equipment repair service (EERS) industry, which serves as the backbone of the entire refurbished phone market, is experiencing a dramatic upswing of its own. According to a recent report from Transparency Market Research, the global EERS market is set to be a $162 bn industry by 2026, no small thanks to recent trends favourable toward device repair.

The EERS market is set to grow at a relatively steady CAGR of 8.1% from 2018 to 2026, as a result of a forthcoming increase in adoption rates of refurbished consumer electronics. One of the primary drivers is said to be the greater availability of high-end consumer electronic products at significantly reduced prices due to an increase of refurbishing services in the market.

This trend subsumes recent consumer trends in the smartphone segment of the EERS industry, where the rising costs of new devices and the absence of generation-defining features in new handsets lend to greater adoption of refurbished phones globally, over against the adoption of new phones, which is actually on a decline. There is little wonder, then, as to why the smartphone segment has by far the largest market share in the global EERS market.

Other factors, such as more stringent government policies on e-waste worldwide and the burgeoning demand for repairs as a consequence of greater adoption are also seen as primary contributors to the trend.

Emerging economies – many of which are in Africa and in the Asia Pacific – are set to have better leverage on the EERS upswing because industry expansion relies on electronic equipment. China’s EERS market, in particular, is set to grow at a CAGR of 8.9% in the coming years, making it a $16.89 bn industry by 2026.

China’s EERS benefits from the mass proliferation of repair service providers in the country in the past two years. Smartphone repair companies like Azooo.com have helped sustain the demand for repair services in the country by providing sustainable solutions to their customers such as door-to-door repairs and repair insurance services. In turn, Azooo.com has enjoyed annual turnouts as high as $15 mn, and is set to have 100+ stores across China by the end of 2018.

Realizing the immense potential, GES has partnered with MSCE, a blockchain-based marketplace founded by the creators of Azooo.com. In more recent developments, GES is making some changes to its structure to further our collaboration with MSCE. Click here for the full update on GES’ latest activities.