Some people are claiming Apple v Samsung has helped Samsung sales. According to a major second-hand devices vendor, the resale market of Samsung devices — and Android devices in general — is not so lucky.

Gazelle, a company that buys used electronic devices from consumers and resells them, is reporting a 50% spike in trade-ins of Samsung Android devices during the three days that followed Apple v Samsung. As basic economics teach us, increase in supply leads to a decrease in price. According to Gazelle, the 50% spike has resulted in a 10% decrease in resale value of Samsung handsets.

While on the forefront this is a bad thing, it should be mentioned this decrease in resale value isn’t completely a bad thing. It is bad for those looking to sell their used Samsung handsets because now they will get lower than what they would have got before (at least from Gazelle). On the flip side, this is good for those looking to purchase used Samsung handsets because, presumably, Gazelle will lower the price of the used Samsung handsets they resell due to lower acquisition costs.

According to MarketWatch, some “experts” (I put experts in quotes because I’m not exactly sure who MarketWatch is quoting, aside from the CEO of a website that lists technology deals — how does that make him an expert?) predict that this dumping of Samsung handsets is a trend that will be extended to other Android handsets because the Apple v Samsung verdict has made people uncertain about Android’s future — uncertain about what future Android devices will hold, if they will have the same features as people enjoy now.

It should be mentioned Android devices have never had the high resale value of iDevices to begin with, and this decrease in resale value just widens the gap.

I don’t know about you but I’m not too sure I buy the explanation that people are dumping Android handsets because they are uncertain about Android’s future. Of course it could be that people are limiting their losses (i.e. getting out of Android before its demise); however, to me it would seem like if people were afraid of what features future Android devices will have (or not have), they would be hording the devices they have now to keep them satisfied until they can see what happens to Android. Then again, who said the general public has to behave rationally? Or, maybe I am irrational.

If you want to play devil’s advocate, you could see the increase in the trade-in of used Samsung handsets as an indicator that people are looking to get rid of their old devices to quickly upgrade to newer ones. You know, before Samsung devices magically disappear thanks to Apple. This explanation, of course, would go hand-in-hand with Chowdhry’s observation of an increase in Galaxy S III sales.

Whatever the logic behind the increased trade-ins may be, one can’t argue with Gazelle’s facts that trade-in of Samsung handsets has spiked after Apple v Samsung. It is obvious Apple v Samsung has sent tidal waves throughout the industry. This is another one. What long term effects will this have, no one really knows.

[Thanks Les Morton, via MarketWatch | Image via opopododo]