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Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

theregister.com

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Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#131

Post by mschuster91 »

gmueckl wrote: post #129
mschuster91 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even a plumber who types up offers and invoices on a computer is subject to all of this mess. Yeah and that plumber has 1000s of customer names, addresses, phone numbers, mail addresses, in Europe maybe even SEPA Direct Debit data. Not funny if that kind of stuff leaks, especially not if you're, say, a person with a public register block due to domestic violence or whatever (basically, one step before witness prote…

Thousands of customers? Your numbers are out of touch with reality.

In Germany you have to keep your records for 8 years as a commercial entity, and 8 years is a lot of customers you deal with, if you work with private customers.

If your primary focus as an electrician, plumber or other tradesperson is SME or industry, of course, then there is far less customers.

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#132

Post by detourdog »

jeroenhd wrote: post #127
maccard wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were they waterproof? I certainly don’t remember my Nokia 3210 being even splash resistant. > I have no idea why we can’t do this now For better worse I think the answer is quite simple - a combo of ease of manufacturing, a long term trend of slimmer devices that is broadly supported by customer behaviour, and an extra place to suggest a device upgrade instead of a repair. You’re more than able to get pretty much any…

Waterproof phones with replaceable batteries existed, but they used more rubber and other tricks to pull it off. This had the advantage of making it a lot easier to close the phone again and still keep the water resistant properties. Having replaced the battery in my old phone, I sure understand why people don't "choose" to do so. The battery itself is worth maybe 20 bucks but the labour and tools required to replace…

Please name these waterproof phones with replaceable batteries. None of my Motorolas or Treos were waterproof. I believe that harden phones may have existed but were not available to normal consumers. Maybe I’m wrong which is why I want to learn what phones you’re talking about.

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#133

Post by jimnotgym »

KaiserPro wrote: post #4

As its the EU and regulation, its time to trott out your hobby horse. So let me trot out mine: regulation is good so long as it is backed up by even handed, robust, transparent, quick and effective sanctions. the Online safety act is a good example of a bad law, which is enforced badly. The first big test (X producing industrial quantities of minors engaging in sexual activity) was failed. Had a small company produce…

I've no doubt the EU will take action on this... sometime over the next 15 years

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#134

Post by mentalgear »

SoftTalker wrote: post #118
999900000999 wrote: post #52

All you really need are easy to replace batteries. That’s the only part that will wear out within a reasonable lifecycle. Aside from FairPhone no one offers that

And the only part that an average user can hope to replace. I tried to replace a cracked sceen once, and ruined the phone. And I consider myself pretty handy, I do all my own car repairs, household plumbing, etc.

Nope, shiftphone's display can be replaced in a minute, without any tools. And it's as waterproof as the iPhone or similar device.

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#135

Post by gmueckl »

mschuster91 wrote: post #131
gmueckl wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thousands of customers? Your numbers are out of touch with reality.

In Germany you have to keep your records for 8 years as a commercial entity, and 8 years is a lot of customers you deal with, if you work with private customers. If your primary focus as an electrician, plumber or other tradesperson is SME or industry, of course, then there is far less customers.

No plumber I know is able to deal with more than a thousand different clients in eight years. This is so absolutely unrealistic it's laughable.

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#136

Post by bluebarbet »

benrutter wrote: post #83
s_dev wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of scores on the doors are often faked defeating their purpose. Helpful but not bullet proof. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SO8KcfhJmc Old school methods like what McDonald's use, literally allow the customer to see in to the kitchen are very effective. Not always ideal for every type establishment but I've seen high end Indian restaurants even do it by having the POS at the back where you can see the kitche…

> I'm not sure how to translate this to the smartphone market though. Fairphone and LaJolla seem to do well in this regard though so back to brand reputation for a lot of this. I'm not here with a silver bullet or anything, but I'd say the EU's energy efficiency labeling works well and has a fairly low level of being gamed/falsified. I don't think there's any big reason why the EU couldn't enforce labeling of a simil…

>LaJolla

*Jolla, pronounced yolla. It's a Finnish word. Maybe a bad choice given the geography of tech.

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#137

Post by ragall »

maccard wrote: post #87
epihelix wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies don't really care about rules per se. They care about their risk appetite, and whether the consequences of their actions create risk above that appetite level. The simple calculus is: will it cost me more to comply, or more to ignore? If a company chooses the more costly option, they are betraying their shareholders and being managed poorly. If you do not fine early and often, you are almost mandating that…

I will say; > will it cost me more to comply, or more to ignore? Is an (unfortunately) American view of things. The vast majority of European businesses I’ve worked with attempt to comply with the _spirit_ of the laws, while my experience with most American companies is they try to skirt the letter of the law to do whatever the hell they want. I’m not saying one is better, or that all companies in both places are lik…

I'm saying the European way is better.

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#138

Post by rickdeckard »

The notable weak spot for this regulation (like some others) is that the member countries agreed to execute it NATIONALLY, so EU member states had to turn the directive into national law and begin enforcement in 2026.

Now the EU is already quite challenged to stand up against US, China (and Korea) when it comes to enforcing such regulation and dealing with accusations from US/China/Korea of "sanctioning sales of their products"...

...so how would one expect the government of an individual country to fare in this, in times of Russia/Ukraine war, energy crisis, Strait-of-Hormuz-crisis...?

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#139

Post by mschuster91 »

gmueckl wrote: post #135
mschuster91 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany you have to keep your records for 8 years as a commercial entity, and 8 years is a lot of customers you deal with, if you work with private customers. If your primary focus as an electrician, plumber or other tradesperson is SME or industry, of course, then there is far less customers.

No plumber I know is able to deal with more than a thousand different clients in eight years. This is so absolutely unrealistic it's laughable.

Repeat customers, certainly, there's only so many of them you can have. I'm talking about small shops with 5-10 people heading out to service calls, and a lot of these is "throwaway" customers that need a water faucet changed or whatnot.

At least here in Germany, in most rental contracts the responsibilities are split between landlord and renter, with the landlord being responsible for the heating, the water mains and the large fusebox, but the renter has to deal with everything under the scope of "Kleinreparatur". Exchanging faucets and siphons, wall sockets, installing laundry machines and other appliances, installing lamps, that kind of stuff many people (like me) can DIY but other people (like a lot of my friends) can't or don't want to, and they call in the professionals for an hour or two. And these guys have like 4-6 service calls a day.

Re: Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements

#140

Post by masfuerte »

juntoalaluna wrote: post #64
philipallstar wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An example of good enforcement is the UK's scores on the doors, where the public can see what the standard is, and if they fall below a certain level, the food place is fined/shutdown/other until it improves. > Another good example is NCAP ratings. Worth noting that NCAP and Scores on the Doors are not regulators. NCAP is an industry body; SotDs is run by TripAdvisor.

I think the food hygiene ratings are a regulatory thing - https://ratings.food.gov.uk - places are required to show their stickers by law. I'm not sure how the Scores on the Doors website, which is at least related to TripAdvisor, fits into all of this...

The restaurants are proactively inspected but nobody is checking that the sticker on the door matches the real rating unless you do it yourself*. Some companies have been taking the piss.

* Which you can at the website you listed.

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