Worldwide demand for used PCs is greater than supply, yet less than half of PCs entering the secondary market get reused.Only one in five PCs targeted for reuse find their way from a mature to a developing economy, tech consulting firm Gartner said in a report.
Of those machines that actually make it, only 44% get used. Major hindrances include export tariffs and high transportation costs.
"The secondary PC market offers great opportunity to specialized intermediaries, resellers, or vendors, but it is a highly fragmented and competitive market," Gartner analyst Meike Escherich said in a statement.
Refurbished PCs typically offer equal or better profit margins than new PCs, ranging from $10 to $50 for a 3-year-old machine.
More at InformationWeek.
(And thanks to freegeekchicago.org for the photo.)
