Apple Doesn’t Want You To Read This Article.

Built-In Obsolescence and e-Waste

Modern waste trends reveal that e-Waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world today. Global e-Waste reached 41.8 million tonnes in 2014 according to the most recent UNU report, and more recent estimates predict the volume would reach 49.8 million tonnes in 2018. There are many reasons for this trend, but these two have been identified as central:

1) the progressively shortening lifecycle of consumer electronics products; and

2) built-in obsolescence embedded in company practices.

Million of tonnes of e-Waste to taken care of

The Smartphone Market and Apple’s Anti-Repair Thrust

Smartphones add significantly to the large volume of e-Waste generated every year. A recent Spectrum article reported that around 183 million smartphones were sold in 2016 in the US alone. Couple this with the fact that around 50% of users worldwide, including the US, have phones that are less than a year old, then the millions of tonnes of e-Waste mentioned above begin to make sense.

While consumers in general want the products, they buy to last a long time, that isn’t always an option available to them. For example, defects in consumer electronics products have become more common in recent years in Europe, while some OEMs, like Apple, use highly complex parts and actively monopolize the repair process, making repair an unlikely option for many users.

Most smartphone users aren’t even aware that repair is an option for them. And that’s largely because Apple doesn’t like users repairing their broken devices or selling them to refurbishers they trust. This impedes the upgrade/replacement cycle, and that cuts into their annual revenue. The Spectrum article concludes: “Manufacturers would prefer to sell you their latest models rather than repair your old electronics, so they work to make fixing their products too expensive or too impractical.” The result is a wasteful market that depletes natural resources and robs people of the ability and the resources to repair their stuff — stuff that they paid for.

Fight for Your Right to Repair

Independent repair services are often not supported by manufacturers

In response, many organizations in the US pushing for greener corporate footprints have begun fighting for consumers’ rights to repair their electronics goods in legislative battles. Giving individuals access to better repair options not only gives them leverage in terms of potential savings and more use value out of their electronics, it also actively contributes to the reduction of e-Waste as a by-product of shrinking consumer tech upgrade/replacement cycles.

If you opt not to repair your own things, there’s always the option of bringing them to qualified professionals who will do it for you. In any case, supporting bills or organizations that promote your right to repair only benefits you in the long run. Groups like the Repair Association and sites like iFixit are leading the fight against corporate greed by providing reverse-engineered repair manuals and pushing for legislation that could help you gain access to more repair options for your smartphones and other electronics.

How Refurbishers are helping Right-to-Repair Grassroots

Choosing to repair saves up resources, both yours and the environment’s. But it’s not the only green option on the table. The refurbished smartphones market is an equally sustainable way to boost reuse rates and lessen the build-up of e-Waste worldwide. It shares the goal of extending smartphone lifecycles, and seeks to empower users by giving them more options over their devices.

Repair services contribute in many ways to sustainability and personal savings

The following are ways in which refurbisher like Galaxy eSolutions are contributing to the Right-to-Repair grassroots’ cause:

· Proactively reduces the use of natural resources such as water, metals, and other commodities;

· Maintains or improves the quality of products through the refurbishing process;

· Makes replacement a more sustainable option for some users (who opt out of repair) by extending the lifecycle of discarded phones and making them available for re-purchase;

· Reduces market friction by removing barriers to purchase from prospects.

More and more users are selling their used smartphones to collectors for refurbishment, and it’s increasingly becoming a standard option (hyperlink IDC report) for people who don’t want to take the repair route.

Save Money, Save the Environment

Repairing your smartphones extends your device’s life, and keeps OEMs from gaining fringe profits off of users from monopolizing the repair process. You can visit https://repair.org/ and https://www.ifixit.com/ for more information on how you can support right-to-repair bills and laws, and learn how to fix your own stuff yourself.

You can also partner up with us through our ICO program and get a tremendous revenue opportunity while helping conserve the world’s resources through used smartphone refurbishment and retail. For more information, watch our short Galaxy eSolutions video.