Report: Samsung could start selling refurbished phones from next year

Samsung’s high-end Galaxies are really good phones, but they are also eye-watering expensive.

Take the Note 7, which just became available in stores last Friday. If you want to buy it through a US carrier, you may end up paying close to $900. It’s an increasingly hard sell for Samsung, when some “affordable flagships” out there offer similar specs at less than half that price.

In order to tempt customers who may want a high-end Galaxy, but can’t afford one, Samsung is reportedly working on a refurbished smartphone program.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reports that the program could launch as soon as 2017.

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Through the program, Samsung would refurbish and resell phones that were returned by customers as part of the yearly upgrade schemes it runs in the US, UK, South Korea, and other markets.

The report doesn’t specify the discount that Samsung would offer on refurbished units or any other details about the refurbished devices.

Typically, refurbished devices are repaired and reconditioned to look and work like new. Some manufacturers offer 90-day or 1-year warranties for these devices.

Samsung is reportedly looking for ways to keep the good momentum from the past 12 months and to keep lower-priced competitors at bay. Profitability is also a factor: Samsung is reportedly trying to keep profit margins above 10 percent.

The refurbished program will help Samsung wring a little more money from its smartphone operation, but it’s hard to believe that it will do anything to keep customers from looking at that cheap, shiny ZenFone or OnePlus.

What do you think? Would you be likely to buy a refurbished Note 7 next year? What would be the right price?