A Wall Street Journal article (March 5, 2011) describes the growing used cell phone recycling industry.   Consumers preferring old models so they do not heave to learn new features, or desiring a lower cost phone, seem to flock to these recycled phones.  Companies like Recellular claim that 75 % of the recycled phones are  reconditioned and sold, while the remaining are broken down and salvaged for plastic or parts of metals.   But phone makers, in an effort to preserve their markets, have shifted to more frequent software upgrades that lock out old phones, or, as the recyclers allege, control their suppliers tightly to reduce availability of parts for repair of old phones.  At the same time, availability of new cheap phones from China threatens this refurbished market.  From an environmental standpoint, reuse of old beats the creation of new, or does it ? Will purchase of used phone become more like the used car market – a routine event ? Will the pressure on commodity prices get cell phone manufacturers to get into the act themselves ?