What is this “little extra thing” that allows you to sell your iPhone for several thousand dollars in the United States ?

L’application TikTok n’est plus accessible sur les plateformes de téléchargement aux États-Unis. MAXPPP – Adrien Fillon

The applications of the Chinese company ByteDance have never had such an impact on the price of smartphones in the United States. And it is mainly TikTok that “drives crazy” Americans, ready to spend crazy amounts to get their hands on a mobile device equipped with the social network.

While Donald Trump has suspended the ban on TikTok in the United States, the mobile application remains inaccessible on download platforms. A sign of the vitality of the social network in the country, with 170 million users, phones equipped with the platform are selling at a high price, as evidenced by the British media Dexerto.

iPhones and Samsungs sold for over $13,000

Across the Atlantic, sales of phones with the “with TikTok” mention have seen their prices explode on resale platforms, exceeding thousands of dollars. One of them, an iPhone 15 Pro, was sold for $13,997, or $13,000 more than its base price. Thanks to the TikTok app. While some smartphones manage to start at exorbitant prices, most are sold at a price slightly higher than the current value of the phone.

The entry into force, this Sunday, January 19, of a law banning all applications from the Chinese company ByteDance, has raised eyebrows among Americans, on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration. A 19-year-old man deliberately set fire to the office of a member of the American Congress to contest this ban. A few hours later, the 47th President of the United States suspended this law, leaving 90 days to find an American buyer, and allowed the social network TikTok in particular to be restored.

Elon Musk, Frank McCourt and MrBeast in the race for the takeover ?

“We must save TikTok”, Donald Trump had proclaimed the day before his inauguration, specifying the need to put forward solutions for the future of the application. “I would like to see a joint company controlled 50% by Americans”, wrote the president-elect. “Without an American agreement, there is no TikTok”.

On the table, many businessmen are on the case. The president of OM, Franck McCourt, said he was ready to put $20 billion on the table. For his part, Donald Trump said he was in favor of the boss of X, Elon Musk, buying the Chinese application. Just like MrBeast, the most followed YouTuber in the world, who announced, on TikTok precisely, that he was able to become “the new CEO” of the company.