Apple trade-ins open up to Android, BB, Windows phones

Apple stores in North America and parts of Europe are to accept Android, Blackberry and Windows phones from March 30 as trade-ins towards new handsets.

Apple-Store-trade-ins-are-run-in-partnership-with-an-external-company-Photo-AFP

Apple stores in North America and parts of Europe are to accept Android, Blackberry and Windows phones from March 30 as trade-ins towards new handsets.

France, Germany, the UK and Italy are also included in the program.

The move is made possible due to an existing agreement with platform-agnostic distributor Brightstar, which as part of its remit, specializes in retail trade-ins.

As 9to5mac notes, store credit can then be applied to purchases of the iPhone 5c, 6 and 6 Plus, to the exclusion of the Apple Watch.

Last week, Apple had announced a buyback program for China, with manufacturer Foxconn to oversee the resale of used handsets, initially through a selection of e-commerce websites and then other physical stores.

A February 2015 IDC report placed Android at 81.5% global market share in 2014 against Apple's 14.8%.

According to Brightstar's iPhone recycling guide, an unlocked, fully functioning and good condition black iPhone 4S would fetch US $35 in store credit.