OECD is 1/5 of world population, but only 1/2 of sales. How E-Recycling Opens the Market
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| Fair Trade Recycling is a 4:1 Friendship |
My points on yesterday's panel at CES were that the Geeks of Color, and the buyers in the Emerging / Converging Markets who depend on them, are tomorrow's market. 70% of electronics sales in Africa are used, some of the 30% "new" are actually refurbished cores.
When places like Egypt had a desire for big USA brand names (and aversion to E-Machines), the USA was like Ford Motors, watching new drivers get their licenses and learning to drive used cars. Ford needs used cars so that people learn to drive sooner and own more cars in their lifetimes. Similarly, our electronics industry needs the used equipment to give people an incentive to get online, watch programming, etc... which will lead to new markets and sales in the future.
When Egypt or Indonesia bans imports of anything more than 3 years after date of manufacture, it's essentially a ban on all used sales. Goods are often not sold for a year, and then they are used for at least two years, then it takes months to collect and ship them.
The consumers in those markets are left with 3 choices:
1) Go without
2) Buy brand new, with 30% of their total annual income ($3000 per year)
3) Learn to like cheap no-name, white box, Chinese brands.
