Hong Kong-based mobile SCM powerhouse EcoRenew has acquired popular smartphone recycling/refurbishing service Mazuma Mobile in a multi-million pound deal.
The acquisition comes a few weeks after EcoRenew purchased another UK tech company, ICT Reverse, an information assurance and data destruction services, in what EcoRenew claims are the first few "with many more expected to come".
Mazuma Mobile was founded in 2006 and was twice recognised as the "best phone recycling service" during the Mobile Choice Awards.
The move is part of a grand strategy which will be revealed to the market in the first quarter of 2018 as EcoRenew transforms into a true "end-to-end" solution provider.
Big business
The UK mobile recycling market is worth tens of millions of pounds annually with the likes of auction site eBay rubbing shoulders with smaller players like Musicmagpie, CEX, Envirofone and many more.
There are currently more than 50 firms in the recycling market, which may go some way to explaining why some consolidation is inevitable.
The rising costs of flagship smartphones (the iPhone X costs £999) combined with the lack of compelling new features on new models and the emergence of new challenger brands from mainland China is likely to cause an acceleration of that trend.
