“Folks need one thing that lasts them a very long time, that’s high quality, that’s helpful,” says Google senior director Alexander Kuscher. “Ultimately, when it breaks or whenever you lose it, you get a brand new one since you really feel taken care of. So I feel that builds belief, and the belief is essential.”
Flex began as an enterprise service for companies; Google provided firms anxious about safety vulnerabilities on growing old {hardware} a technique to simply replace to a safer working system. Or, at the least, one that also acquired updates. After some time, different customers began to get ahold of the software program, downloading and putting in it on their very own USB sticks for his or her private machines. “We did not make it notably straightforward on the time,” Kuscher says. “However folks did it.”
What led to the extra consumer-oriented push of ChromeOS Flex—like this partnership with Again Market—was the tip of software program assist for Microsoft’s Home windows 10 working system final fall. Whereas the OS nonetheless technically works, it stopped receiving safety updates, and Microsoft has inspired customers to replace to Home windows 11. However Home windows 11 has particular {hardware} necessities, and it will not be a easy improve on sure machines. Google noticed this as a second to supply a less expensive different to the “Home windows 10 cliff,” as Kuscher places it. Again Market agreed.
“Finally, [Microsoft is] saying that folks must throw away their present laptop computer to purchase one other one,” Hug de Larauze says. “And we are saying politely, no.”
For those who’re tech-savvy, you’ll be able to forgo Again Market’s $3 stick and obtain ChromeOS Flex onto a USB drive you might have mendacity round proper now.
Shopping for Refurb
Again Market has executed very properly for itself regardless of financial turmoil. As units grow to be dearer, folks flip to cheaper, refurbished choices. He compares the gadget market to the auto trade.
“Ninety p.c of automobiles are being offered pre-owned,” Hug de Larauze says. “The brand new regular is to buy them pre-owned as a result of it is nearly dumb to purchase a brand new one.”
When US president Donald Trump introduced sweeping tariffs final yr, Hug de Larauze says Again Market gross sales tripled afterwards. Even after the mud settled somewhat and it grew to become clear that tariffs wouldn’t instantly have an effect on smartphones or computer systems, Hug de Larauze says gross sales stayed round twice what they’d been earlier than. Again Market made $3.8 billion in 2025, making the corporate worthwhile for the primary time. Whereas Hug de Larauze says these sorts of financial fluctuations could also be good for sending extra folks to Again Market, he hopes it would shift purchaser mindsets to purchasing refurbished tech writ massive.
“Now we have one planet, and sources are restricted,” Hug de Larauze says. “We have to do extra with what we have already got in each sector. Trend is similar, transportation is similar, power is similar, it is the identical for every little thing.”
