Mobile Disrupt 2026 is just around the corner. This week, industry leaders from around the world who specialize in Mobile IT are meeting to connect and discuss challenges and solutions, and HOBI is one of them. As an IT asset management and disposition provider for over 30 years, HOBI includes Mobile asset management services such as repair, resale, and value recovery as part of its ITAD infrastructure. From July 7-8, HOBI’s VP of Sales, Jason Radakovich, will be in Miami, Florida, to meet with other industry professionals. Jason also recently sat down to discuss all things mobile for the fourth episode of the HOBI Conversations podcast, available to watch today.
The Progression of Mobile ITAD
Mobility hasn’t been around forever. When mobile phones were first introduced, nobody offered mobile IT services. Now, mobile IT has become an integrated ITAD process involving services such as device grading, repair, resale, and value recovery.
“Several years after smartphones and true mobile phones were introduced into the market, then people started refreshing, mainly companies, and just like every product, you know there’s a problem and a process to be solved,” said Radakovich on the HOBI podcast.
ITAD facilities became the go-to for mobile IT refresh cycles as technology evolved, but there was still very little reuse happening in the industry. As one of the earlier companies to step onto the mobile IT scene, HOBI was able to recognize the demand for mobile resale and was fortunate enough to have the capabilities to help clients as their mobile needs evolved.
“One of the top three mobile providers that are left was sending equipment to HOBI for recycling.”
According to Radakovich, the evolution really began with data erasure. “HOBI went to the carrier and through some back-and-forth discussions. Initially, we were allowed to resell parts, no data-bearing devices. So the progression started there. One of Hobby’s owners, Craig Boswell and president, developed a method and a display of data erasure and verification several years after we started receiving products, and finally the carrier accepted our process and we started processing and reselling phones.”
Mobile ITAD Processing at Scale
As mobile IT has grown, ITAD providers have had to adapt to larger-scale mobility, and HOBI acquired experience at scale very early in the mobile ITAD space.
“Not only did we start with a carrier, we simultaneously did work for a manufacturer as well. So our bar was set very high before there was an industry, before the associations that we all belonged to, so it allowed HOBI to set our internal bar higher and also give vendors out there the confidence that they could use us in that our processes were both secure and verified.”
One of HOBI’s unique qualities is its internally-developed ERP system. “HOBI engineers have developed that over time, and it’s naturally evolving. It’s one of our competitive edges; we own our technology, and this allows us to develop internally the routing system that allows us to process our clients’ material according to the request of their contract, and to process large volumes,” Radakovich explained.
Increasing Data Erasure Standards
One of the major changes that the industry faced during the mobile IT boom is the necessity of increased data security. Mobile phones evolved into small, handheld devices, and now we have devices as small as coins, each containing personal data. Mobile hardware has dominated business and communication, but these small devices contain large amounts of data and present a larger data security risk because of their convenience. Data security became a major factor once mobile asset reuse became an established facet of ITAD. In the earlier days of mobile ITAD, many facilities would do simple resets, and complete erasure is something that set HOBI apart from other vendors.
“No device or part leaves our facility that’s not erased.”
When it comes to data security, HOBI sets its sights above industry standards. As one of the rare ITAD providers with its own data erasure tool, HOBI prioritizes data safety above all else. HOBI’s proprietary erasure tool, HOBI Shield, was developed by a HOBI engineer and completely erases all data from hard drives, ensuring no data breaches occur even after assets are retired.
“HOBI holds the highest certs in the industry, you know, the standards R2, RIOS, and ISO.”
Additionally, HOBI is NAID-certified and undergoes annual audits to maintain regulatory compliance.
Maximizing Value Through Repair and Resale Services
The evolution of mobile ITAD has paved the way for repair and resale services that help reduce the demand for new devices by extending mobile device lifecycles. The mobile asset management services now include a thorough screening process, serialized tracking, certified data erasure, grading, device repair, and asset remarketing.
Mobile asset resale provides many enterprise benefits. As the most commonly used electronic devices in the world, mobile devices are in high demand but getting more expensive, including for company refresh cycles. Remarketing retired enterprise mobile assets can help fund refresh cycles while also providing a service to those without access to electronics.
Reusing assets keeps them in circulation longer, extending device lifecycle while reducing the demand for new devices. This also preserves natural resources by reducing the need for mining new precious metals for manufacturing.
Another mobile asset service is parts harvesting. Sometimes a hard drive cannot be erased, and the device has to be shredded; some devices do not work at all but may still contain working parts. Parts harvesting enables ITAD enterprises to keep certain device parts in circulation by placing them in other devices that need repairs. This increases device value and enterprise ROI.
As the final step in circularity, mobile device reuse helps close the loop. Still, the industry faces a challenge that delays the reuse process and ultimately reduces value.
Smartphones have rapidly evolved, and now most contain device locks that are activated when enrolled in company software or programs. ITAD providers process hundreds of thousands of phones, but if the devices are still enrolled, they cannot access the devices, and the value recovery process is halted until the lock issue is resolved. This often requires much back and forth between ITAD companies and clients and can become a waiting game depending on who has authority to unenroll the devices.
“We come across that lock, and the first thing we do is grab serial numbers for all those units, pull that list. We set everything aside, go to our client, ask to release that, which could be a day, it could be a week, it could be a month, you know, the uncertainty is another factor because we can’t have load after load accumulating and so eventually, you know, say twenty-four hours we don’t get a response or locking confirmation, we have to wrap that up, put it on the shelf, jump to the next one. So it’s kind of a snowball effect,” said Radakovich.
The problem is the delay this causes. When phones are locked and it takes more than a few hours to resolve, the devices must be set aside so as not to prevent other client loads from falling behind. This means they sit in storage, where value rapidly deteriorates. This reduces the maximum value recovery, and wastes resources when multiple avenues have to be explored to unlock the devices.
According to Radakovich, the solution is for companies to unenroll all devices before sending them to ITAD facilities.
“They’re going to lose a lot of value by not unlocking these devices and letting them be resold for maximum value.”
The Future of Mobile ITAD
One of the biggest industry challenges is the Right to Repair. This has been an ongoing issue in the industry for years and continues to be an obstacle for many ITAD enterprises encountering locked devices.
“This is an industry problem with the manufacturers out there that have the solution to turn this problem on or off.”
As someone who has witnessed the progression of mobile ITAD firsthand, Radakovich believes the solution to these issues is the collaboration of manufacturers, ITAD providers, and processors.
“Both of HOBI’s owners are on boards and committees and are active in legislation and lobbies to have a happy medium between the manufacturers and the ITADs and the processors to unenroll these devices once ownership is transferred to the ITAD company. It would just make all of our lives a lot easier. It would take this burden off the company. Just a lot of time is wasted.”
Radakovich also mentions the lack of a process for this particular problem as more and more electronics are introduced to the market, such as wearables like watches and glasses. According to him, legislation may be the key to the future of mobile ITAD.
“Getting some legislation to address these challenges that we’re currently facing and to get a consensus from manufacturers, the ITAD processors and the end user of those devices to develop a process, you know, whether it’s a portal or some centralization organization that can kind of manage independently the list that we create, and having access to the manufacturer serial numbers and an irontight process to facilitate the unlocking of these devices. There’s not really a process. We know there’s an issue, but nothing has been done about it. So you know, getting ahead of things like that.”
Now that AI has entered the scene, the ITAD industry is facing more and more challenges, but Radakovich encourages more collaboration to get through changing times.
“We all tackle these problems together and stay strong as an industry.”
Find HOBI at Mobile Disrupt
Episode 4 of HOBI Conversations is now live. You can also visit with Jason Radakovich in Miami this week at Mobile Disrupt 2026.
Contact HOBI today at 877-814-2620 or sales@hobi.com to request a mobile ITAD quote.