“Folks need one thing that lasts them a very long time, that’s high quality, that’s helpful,” says Google senior director Alexander Kuscher. “Finally, 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 nervous about safety vulnerabilities on ageing {hardware} a method to simply replace to a safer working system. Or, not less than, one that also obtained 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 help for Microsoft’s 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 Windows 11. However Home windows 11 has particular {hardware} necessities, and it may not be a simple upgrade on sure machines. Google noticed this as a second to supply a less expensive various to the “Home windows 10 cliff,” as Kuscher places it. Again Market agreed.
“In the end, [Microsoft is] saying that folks have to throw away their current laptop computer to purchase one other one,” Hug de Larauze says. “And we are saying politely, no.”
If you happen to’re tech-savvy, you may forgo Again Market’s $3 stick and obtain ChromeOS Flex onto a USB drive you have lying around right now.
Shopping for Refurb
Again Market has executed very effectively for itself regardless of financial turmoil. As units grow to be dearer, folks flip to cheaper, refurbished choices. He compares the machine market to the auto trade.
“Ninety % of automobiles are being bought 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 announced sweeping tariffs final 12 months, Hug de Larauze says Again Market gross sales tripled afterwards. Even after the mud settled slightly and it grew to become clear that tariffs wouldn’t straight have an effect on smartphones or computers, 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 is going to shift purchaser mindsets to purchasing refurbished tech writ giant.
“Now we have one planet, and sources are restricted,” Hug de Larauze says. “We have to do more with what we already have in each sector. Trend is similar, transportation is similar, vitality is similar, it is the identical for all the pieces.”
