The Harsh Truth About Smartphone Depreciation Rates
Smartphone depreciation rates describe how quickly a phone’s resale value drops after purchase, and the latest data shows that ultra-premium flagship and foldable models lose far more value in their first year than regular devices, turning a USD 2,000 (approx. RM9,200) status symbol into a mid-range used phone in under twelve months if you buy at launch and sell after one upgrade cycle. If you are eyeing a future iPhone Ultra or iPhone Fold, you are not buying a long-term investment; you are buying a fast-depreciating luxury gadget. The numbers are blunt: foldable smartphones lose an average of 64.6% of their value, or USD 997.69 (approx. RM4,600), within 12 months, while traditional flagship smartphones lose 55.3%, or USD 605.32 (approx. RM2,800), in the same period. That gap is the financial penalty attached to bleeding-edge design.
Foldables vs Slab Flagships: A $1,292 Lesson
The headline figure should make any buyer pause: a hypothetical USD 2,000 (approx. RM9,200) Apple iPhone Ultra or iPhone Fold could lose USD 1,292 (approx. RM5,950) in value within 12 months if it follows current foldable trends, leaving a residual value of only USD 708 (approx. RM3,260). According to data from resale platform SellCell, foldable owners lose an average of USD 997.69 (approx. RM4,600) after one year, nearly USD 400 (approx. RM1,840) more than the USD 605.32 (approx. RM2,800) lost by standard flagship phone owners. Five of the six biggest value losses in the study came from foldables, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 1TB dropping USD 1,479.99 (approx. RM6,810) in a year. This is not a minor difference; it is a structural reality of foldable phone value loss, driven by fragile hardware, rapid iteration, and skepticism in the used market toward first-generation designs.
Apple’s Strong iPhone Resale Value Can’t Fully Save Its Foldable
To Apple fans, the comforting narrative is that iPhone resale value beats everyone else—and the data backs that up. The iPhone 16 lineup retained 51.5% of its value after 12 months, the best result among major brands, and nine of the ten best-performing devices for value retention were iPhones. OnePlus came in second at 46.8%, followed by Google at 40.8%, Samsung at 39.5%, and Motorola at 24.5%. If Apple’s foldable matched that 51.5% retention, the first-year loss would shrink to roughly USD 970 (approx. RM4,460), more than USD 300 (approx. RM1,380) better than the Android foldable baseline. But that is still an enormous hit, and first-generation foldables historically perform worst on resale once a successor arrives. The iPhone Fold is already in production, but its launch depends on Apple resolving hinge design issues—a reminder that early buyers are shouldering hardware risk on top of financial risk.
Why First-Year Flagship Phone Depreciation Hurts Buyers Most
Flagship phone depreciation is front-loaded: the steepest drop happens in the first year, exactly when enthusiasts tend to upgrade. The secondary market is brutal to first owners because each new launch instantly repositions last year’s top model as a compromise option. Version-one foldables suffer even more; once a refined successor appears, resale prices accelerate downward as buyers treat early models as experiments rather than reliable daily drivers. Traditional slab flagships also lose over half their value in the first 12 months, but foldables magnify the effect through higher launch prices, perceived fragility, and rapid design changes. In plain terms, paying launch-day money for bleeding-edge hardware means absorbing the full impact of first-year smartphone depreciation rates while subsidizing the R&D of the next generation you will be tempted to buy.
So, Should You Buy New—or Let Someone Else Eat the Loss?
The uncomfortable but honest takeaway is that ultra-premium and foldable flagships are poor choices if your priority is retaining value. The data suggests the iPhone Fold is a device to buy because you want it, not because you expect to recoup the cost. If you care about minimizing foldable phone value loss, the rational move is to avoid first-generation models and consider buying after the initial 12-month cliff, when someone else has already funded the depreciation. Apple’s strong iPhone resale value softens the blow but does not erase it; even the best-performing iPhones still lose nearly half their value in a year. The smartest stance for most buyers is simple: treat ultra-premium and foldable phones as luxury gadgets, not investments, and time your upgrades around value, not hype.
