London thieves are reportedly refusing to steal Samsung phones

British media have reported several cases in which thieves declined to steal Samsung smartphones.

One example highlighted by London Centric involved a man who was attacked by a group of eight people. According to the report, one of the attackers handed the victim’s phone back after taking a look at it, saying: “Don’t want no Samsung.”

Another incident played out in similar fashion: a thief on an e-bike grabbed a Samsung phone from a passerby, only to throw it away moments later after realizing what model he had taken.

In a third story, a man approached a potential victim and asked for his Spotify details, pretending to promote his music. The moment he saw the Samsung phone, he lost interest and walked off.

“While it might feel like London’s phone thieves will indiscriminately take any device they can get their hands on, there are a growing number of indicators that many of them are only interested in Apple iPhones,” London Centric notes.

Cybersecurity experts say the explanation is simple: thieves want something they can resell quickly and profitably. iPhones retain strong value on the secondhand market, while most Android devices fetch far lower prices.

“Apple devices have a higher secondhand market value and it makes more economic sense to pursue these more sought-after phones rather than cheaper models with a lower secondhand price. Fundamentally, the resale value is what thieves are most interested in,” said Jake Moore, an advisor at cybersecurity firm ESET.

Why London Centric’s examples focus specifically on Samsung phones, however, remains unclear.