iPhone 5 could prompt 70 per cent sales growth in secondhand devices

Adding to the 500,000 units eBay UK has shifted since first iPhone was launched.

Online retailer eBay has made the prediction for a boost in sales based on the results it saw last year when Apple's iPhone 4 went on sale, which caused a boost to sales of earlier models.

The firm saw an iPhone sold approximately every two minutes last year and in Q2 this year, the Apple device was searched for 18 million times across eBay's European sites alone.

Ten per cent of all purchases on eBay UK are mobile related and eBay mobile apps have been downloaded over 47 million times globally.

Angus McCarey, retail director for eBay UK, said: "The UK leads Europe in terms of smartphone adoption, which is helping to drive the triple digit growth of mobile shopping on eBay. Mobile is fundamentally changing retail as shoppers can now browse and shop on and offline in a seamless way."

We reported on the iPhone 5's popularity just this week with 39 per cent of Britons intending to purchase the device, despite currently having no knowledge of its capabilities or even what it will look like.