Apple may be looking to launch a new trade-in program for older iPhone models, according to a Thursday report from Bloomberg.

According to the report, which presented information from numerous anonymous Apple insiders, the trade-in program would be offered to customers in Apple stores and would be primarily aimed at encouraging older iPhone users to update to newer models. The trade-in system would be executed in partnership with the Brightstar Corporation, a mobile-phone distributor with experience of offering similar programs for AT&T and T. Mobile, among others.

Apple’s once-unstoppable growth has slowed in recent quarters, a setback credited by different sources to the death of former visionary CEO Steve Jobs and the lack of revolutionary devices or significant updates to flagships like the iPhone or the MacBook Pro.

Tim Cook, Jobs’ successor in the CEO role, is hoping that a trade-in program would help encourage older iPhone owners (specifically users of the iPhone 4 or 4S) to upgrade to later models. In recent years, Apple has built a reputation of credibility and state-of-the-art sensibility among its customers, offering products that work well, boast attractive features, and last for a long time. But with iPhones now having the hardware necessary to withstand three or four good years of used–if not more–Apple needs to find a way to keep older customers coming back and buying their new products consistently.

If Apple’s trade-in program works out, it could change the way people buy, use, and discard their older smartphones. The last decade or so has been a period of incredible growth and progression in the mobile device market. Network contracts with most major carriers last for two years, but while most phones do survive and operate smoothly through that span, users generally go for a new phone when they sign a new contract, discarding the old one or putting it in a drawer to collect dust. In an age of rapid technological development, two years of use has traditionally rendered older smartphone models obsolete, with no trade-in value left to speak of.

But it appears that the age of smartphone obsolescence may be at an end: AT&T is currently offering considerable trade-in values for used models of the iPhone 4 or 4S, devices that have been on the market since 2010 and 2011, respectively. In some cases, AT&T has paid as much as $200 for an older iPhone, a figure that would entirely defer the cost of a new iPhone 5 on contract.

Bloomberg also pointed toward plans within Apple to enter the refurbished phone circuit. The company has had trouble building a competitive presence in foreign markets, such as those in Asia and Africa, largely due to the sky-high prices of its new devices. Refurbished phones and other resale options do better in those emerging markets, suggesting that Apple could better compete with cheaper Samsung products if they built up their own resale offerings.