Are you a smartphone user looking to switch to an Apple iPhone? Give it sometime and you might be able to trade in your non-iOS device for iPhone credit.
As part of a company effort to boost in-store iPhone sales, 9to5Mac reports that per sources, Apple will be expanding its iPhone Reuse and Recycling Program to include non-iOS based smartphones for Apple Store iPhone gift cards.
Currently, the program, which began in 2013, provides up to $175 of store credit for new iPhones in exchange for used iPhones that meet the company's pre-set list of criteria.
The publication reports that the program could soon be a reality as extensive training programs for retail employees will begin later on this week. Employees of Apple will assist customers in transfering contacts from old smartphones to their new iPhone but other content management tasks will need to be handled by the customer.
The employee training will synchronize the quality assessment across all stores. the Apple stores' retail employees will be responsible for determining the value of the traded smartphones through an internal and external evaluation of the device.
This new strategy is Apple's attempt to increase its revenue and lure smartphone users from its rival firms, especially Samsung. Apple Insider recalls that this move comes after last year's website launch which was dedicated to ease content migration from Android devices to iOS platforms.
Apple's new program expands its customer base by providing previously non-eligible consumers with credit that may entice them enough to transfer to the Apple community.
Earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared that its new smartphone -- the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus -- has caused the largest Android switch rate that any other iPhone over the last three years. The new product has provide Apple with a record 89% of global smartphone operating profits during the fourth quarter of 2014.
Buzzfeed reports that in line with Apple's focus on increasing store-made iPhone sales, "Extending its iPhone trade-in program to non-iOS handsets is a smart way of doing that, enticing upgrade-ineligible consumers on almost any mobile platform into its stores with the promise of credit toward a new iPhone. And because iPhone buyers who purchased their device at the Apple Store typically own and buy more Apple products relative to iPhone buyers at other outlets, it's a particularly smart move ahead of the forthcoming launch of Apple Watch."
It's expected that Apple will introduce its next-generation iPhone this year, sometime in September. It has been dubbed the iPhone 6S or iPhone 7.
Similarly, a parallel program has already been launched by Apple for the iPad, a line with sales that has been declining over the past few quarters.
