• Assurant has opened a new state-of-the-art Device Care Centre (DCC) in Tennessee, emerging as a strong contender in the refurbishing sector.
• The DCC has already processed substantial volumes of smartphones despite being only a couple of months old; further automation is expected to help boost volumes.
• Assurant is keen on sustainability and has prioritized minimizing its carbon footprint at the DCC.
• Currently, Assurant is the only refurbishment company dealing with Apple AirPods, giving it a competitive edge.

Assurant opened an innovative new refurbishment plant in Tennessee in late 2024 to maintain its current rate of refurbishment and to use new technologies to further improve efficiencies within the plant, expecting to see good YoY growth. Currently, this plant does ‘non-invasive’ refurbishment (i.e. buffing, data wiping, and more) but can be expected to undertake more invasive refurbish processes by next year, including replacing screens and batteries. With this new Device Care Centre (DCC), Assurant has made significant strides in innovating the refurbishing process for smartphones and related devices to increase their efficiency and overall sustainability. To improve processes and add new ones, this plant is moving to become automated and has partnered with the local university to hire engineers to help elevate their automation processes.

Smartphones:

Smartphones are the key devices for this centre with large volumes entering the DCC daily for processing. Assurant has trade-in programs covering a large portion of the US territory, with an estimated $3 billion being paid back to customers. These trade-ins are coming from both carrier stores and directly from consumers. Assurant’s Tennessee plant has a demo store, Cell Phone Repair by Assurant, that now has over 500+ locations across the US ready to service broken devices. These locations target consumer devices that can be fixed or traded-in directly through the store. Apple iPhones make up most of the phones being refurbished at this plant which is why many of the lines have been tailored to ensure secure data wiping and buffing of these devices.

Source: Assurant

Sustainability:

The overall goal is to eliminate as many phones going into landfills as possible. Of the devices that reach the DCC, less than 1% have zero economical value, so all devices either get resold or sold for parts to ensure the lifetime of the device is extended for as long as possible. Other sustainability initiatives being used within the facility include using dry ice made from recycled CO2 to sterilize and clean the devices that come into the plant to reduce the carbon footprint as much as possible right from the processing phase. Assurant kept sustainability in mind while building its plant by including reflective floors to improve lighting conditions and minimize the number of lights used in the plant to keep electricity use low.

AirPods:

Assurant is currently the only DCC offering refurbish services for AirPods. The AirPods that come to Assurant’s plant are relatively new as they are obtained from ‘Buyer’s remorse’ programs that Assurant and Best Buy have partnered for. The AirPods are first sanitized and authenticated as these items are often off-brand returns or contain no earbuds in the case. The primary check essentially includes ensuring authenticity of the Apple parts. The battery is also tested but because these are often new devices, the battery is left as is. After these processes, Assurant sells the AirPods directly back to the consumers and not through B2B channels.

Conclusion:

The US secondary smartphone market has remained stable, especially with carriers promoting more trade-in deals. Such deals have improved the supply of secondary smartphones available in the market.

Assurant has become a leader in the innovation that goes into efficiently and sustainably refurbishing these devices to ensure they get the longest life possible. This process not only has environmental benefits, but also allows consumers to purchase like-new flagship devices that may be only one to two years old at a discounted rate after being processed to the best possible condition.