It's being rumoured that Apple is training staff in preparation for bringing its iPhone trade-in initiative to the UK and Europe.
The iPhone Reuse and Recycle program was launched in the US back in August, and enabled American customers to take their old iPhones into an Apple retail store and subtract its resale value from the price of a brand new model.
Apple launched the initiative in a bid to boost iPhone sales within its Apple retail stores, which CEO Tim Cook has noted is a key area for improvement. It also fits in with Apple's whole emphasis on environmental responsibility.
Now, according to 9to5mac, Apple is about to transfer this offer to the UK and Europe. Naming a single reliable source, the report claims that "Apple has begun preparing training material for its United Kingdom retail staff."
In addition, Apple has actually begun training a small number of UK Apple retail stores on the program, but it will take a few more weeks to spread this training to the rest of the country. Apparently, the trade-in initiative will arrive here in the UK some time in the coming months.
It's claimed that Apple also has designs on introducing this recycle scheme to the rest of Europe, but that the UK will be first. It does, after all, have more Apple retail stores than any other country after the US.
When it finally becomes available in this country, the iPhone Reuse and Recycle program will work like this. A customer will be able to take their iPhone into an Apple retail store to get it appraised based on hardware damage, screen quality and water damage. The resulting figure will then be supplied as a gift card in return for the old unit, though this will only be able to be redeemed against a brand new contract iPhone there and then.
This could seriously boost the number of iPhone 6 handsets sold in the UK in around a year's time.
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