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Lawrence Shea
CST300 Major Pro Seminar
8 February 2018

Planned Obsolescence and the Right to Repair

In the consumer electronics and automotive industries, it is common to make products

with a short useful lifespan in order to maintain demand for new, upgraded products (The

Economist, 2009). Additionally, manufacturers prefer to keep repairs to their products limited to

first-party repair channels. There are two primary groups of stakeholders in the argument over

the “Right to Repair”: advocates including consumers and third-party repairmen, and

manufacturers of consumer goods who are against “Right to Repair”. The dilemma faced by the

government is whether to support manufacturers intellectual property and the benefits of

consumerism to the economy, or to support consumers’ “Right to Repair” bills that seek to make

repair a more viable option.

Products that are difficult to repair are getting more and more common. In years past,

when faced with poor battery life on their cell phone, a consumer could purchase a relatively

inexpensive new battery, remove the old one, and the phone would continue to be useful. In the

current market, most phones have abandoned removable backs/batteries which leaves consumers

faced with few options: replace the entire phone, bring it to a first-party repair shop, find a

third-party repair shop, attempt to disassemble and repair the phone on their own, or live with

poor battery life. None of these are as appealing, or easy as removing a cover and replacing a

battery.

Apple especially has been under scrutiny for seemingly anti-consumer practices.

According to a recent CNN report (2018), the Cupertino based company faces lawsuits in South
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Korea, the United States, and France. The lawsuits were filed based upon the company admitting

in December that software updates for iPhones 6, 6S, SE, and 7 slowed down the phones in order

to prolong battery life (Kottasova, 2017). According to the Washington Post, Apple lobbied

against a New York “Right to Repair” bill that would “require hardware manufacturers make

repair instructions and parts available to the public.” Currently, blueprints and factory parts are

limited to use at Genius Bars, Apple Facilities, and authorized third-party repair shops (Turner,

2016).

With regards to this issue the main stakeholders’ interests regarding this issue do not

align. From the perspective of consumers and consumer rights advocates, production of modular,

easily maintainable products is of great utilitarian benefit. Utilitarianism is an ethical framework

based upon the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. The core idea of utilitarianism is

the maximization of good, or to “bring about the greatest amount of good for the greatest

number” (Driver, 2014). A consumer having the ability to maintain and repair broken equipment

saves money in both the short and long term. Beyond cost savings, it is also environmentally

responsible to fix a component on an otherwise functional device rather than replace the entire

device.

In mid-2016, Louis Rossmann, a computer repair technician and YouTube content

creator, uploaded a cryptic video implying to his audience that something bad was likely to

happen to the channel (Rossmann, 2016). He was referring to was the possibility of his channel

being removed based upon its content. Rossmann’s channel focuses on board level repairs on

laptop computers, especially Apple MacBooks. In his most popular video, he demonstrates an
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expensive repair using a two dollar part and his technical skills (Rossman, 2015). Rossmann

helped to bring seemingly anti-consumer practices to the public eye.

The Repair Association is a “Right to Repair” advocate group made up of independent

repair technicians in all industries. According to their website, “end-of-life” electronics is a big

issue, “More than 20 million tons of end-of-life products are produced every year.” (The Repair

Association). The association argues that repair is better for the economy and environment

because recycling, despite having the appearance of being free, is not. Processing recycled items

costs money that generally comes from the sale of recycled materials.

Manufacturers not releasing diagrams and diagnostic tools for use outside of their own

facilities hurts independent repair technicians (Rossman, 2015). Rossman said to the Washington

Post, “Think back to a time when the back panel of a television set had schematics and diagrams

posted on it. This was not thousands of years ago.” (Turner, 2016) He continues to say that if the

status-quo is upheld that, “...you do not own a device, you’re renting it until it breaks.” The

dangers of lack of property rights are outlined by a British online economics publication, and

they align with consumers’ utilitarian ethical principles. The primary concern of lacking of

property rights in relation to consumer electronics is the misuse of scarce resources shared by all

(Economics Online).

Conversely, consumers having easy, cheap access to repairs is not in the interest of

manufacturers of products. Manufacturers have duties to themselves, their shareholders, and

consumers. The deontological ethics framework by W.D. Ross called “The Right and the Good”

states that members of society have five main duties to abide by: keeping promises, righting

previous wrongs, reciprocating favors, promote the “maximum aggregate of good”, and to not
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harm others (Skelton, 2012). Manufacturers of consumer electronics have several important

duties to uphold. They must maintain a high profit so that shareholders see returns on their

investments, maintain the growth of the company, as well as to have the ability to continue

research and development of new products. Another duty that manufacturers have to uphold is to

provide consumers with high quality products. Lastly, manufacturers have a large economic duty

to provide jobs which helps everyone involved in said economy. Releasing control of their

intellectual property hinders the fulfillment of all of these duties.

As of 2016, Apple was the ninth largest company in the world by revenue (Yeomans,

2016). A 2012 NPR article about Apple’s job creation in the U.S. stated that they employed

47,000 people. However, according to Enrico Moretti, a UC Berkeley economist, the number of

jobs indirectly created is in the realm of three to four hundred thousand. Moretti said, “My own

research suggests that for each additional job in the average high-tech firm, five additional jobs

are created outside that firm in the local community.” (Arnold, 2017) More recently, according to

Apple’s own website, they have 80,000 direct employees, as well as 450,000 jobs through U.S.

suppliers, and 1,530,000 jobs attributed to the app developers on the App Store (2018).

Another company with concerns over “Right to Repair” legislation is John Deere. The

company issued a press release with regard to a Kansas bill that would give third-party repair

channels access to diagnostic tools and information. The company’s primary concerns involved

consumer safety and environmental protection:

To protect customers’ significant investment in equipment, and to ensure continued

compliance with emissions, operator safety and other regulatory requirements, John

Deere recommends that equipment repairs and service should be performed by John
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Deere dealers and the certified technicians they employ. (Deere)

First-party repairs allow manufacturers to be certain that consumers’ devices are being properly

repaired with high quality parts in order to maintain public trust as well as the integrity of the

products that they service.

The “Right to Repair” is important going forward. In the interest of utilitarian principles,

the government should support related bills. It is important in the future to have left the world the

same or better than it was previously, and producing massive amounts of electronic waste in

support of myopic consumerism is counterproductive to this end. While the deontological ethics

exercised by manufacturers of consumer goods has merit, it also has problems.

Infinite market share growth is not sustainable. Much in the way that a “perpetual motion

device” is impossible by the laws of physics, keeping a company in a constant state of growth is

not economically viable. Companies know this, and as such, have resorted to questionable tactics

and legal grey areas in order to keep stakeholders in a good position. The practice of withholding

technical diagrams and diagnostic tools is a form of horizontal integration in order to monopolize

the repair of goods. Having complete control over the repair industry allows for a company to set

the price of repair high in order to disincentivize maintenance of old equipment in favor of just

buying a new device.

In order to quash the perceived threat of third-party technicians, Apple intentionally

makes their products difficult to work on. Rossman discusses in a 2015 video about why iPhone

screen repair is a dying business. He compares the price and service that you get from Apple

versus the price and service of a third-party shop (Rossmann, 2015).

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In the beginning, Rossman says, an independent repair shop could buy a screen for a

dollar and would charge about seventy dollars for the repair, and the customer would retain all of

the data on their phone. Apple, on the other hand, charged two to three hundred dollars, and they

would provide you with a different, refurbished, phone with none of the customer’s data. This

arrangement worked for consumers and independent repair shops, but left Apple out in the cold.

As time went on, screens became more expensive, but there was still a decent profit margin to be

had for independent repair shops. When the iPhone 6 came around though, that changed. A good

screen for the 6 cost around ninety-seven dollars and Apple would repair the screen in-house for

one-hundred and nine dollars and there was no loss of data. There was no longer a good reason

to have an independent repair shop fix an iPhone screen (Rossmann, 2015).

While the phones are getting technically better and more advanced, they are getting

harder to repair. It is questionable whether this is intentional, or just a natural byproduct of more

advanced hardware, but from a utilitarian standpoint, it is better for more people to repair an old

product than just buy a new one. While Apple will now fix phones for a reasonable price, the

practice of horizontal integration and monopolization of the repair market for their products is

unethical based upon utilitarian ideals.

The horizontal integration of repair and the practice of withholding access to quality parts

and diagnostic tools is harmful to the economy. A person with a successful repair business is

certain to make more money than an Apple employee since they get a larger cut of the profit

(which is better for the overall economy). On top of that, the jobs aren’t being created

necessarily, they are being monopolized. If independent repair people had access to diagnostic
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tools and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts, there would be no concern over

marginalizing the integrity of the original product.

Aside from other forms of electronic waste generated by the disincentivization of repair

in favor of buying new products, according to an article on Waste Management World, it is not

economically viable to recycle lithium batteries. The cost to a manufacturer for recycled lithium

is “as much as five times the cost of lithium produced from the least costly brine based process”

(Kumar, 2018). The goal should be to minimize environmental impact in the form of electronic

waste, and swapping a battery produces far less waste than replacing an entire device. While

battery replacements are already possible, they are difficult and expensive for reasons outlined

above.

The solution to the issue, requires manufacturers to make concessions to reduce

wastefulness which is better for the collective good. Thinking beyond the present and making a

quick buck is important to the success of future generations. Manufacturers of consumer goods

should focus on making the very best, modular, and maintainable goods that they can. The

consumer electronics industry would greatly benefit future generations by allowing people to

purchase high quality parts and have access to diagrams and diagnostic tools like how the

automotive industry used to work. Anyone with some technical knowledge and know how could

purchase a factory service manual and OEM parts to ensure high quality fixes that will last down

the line.
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References

Arnold, C. (2012, March 06). How Many U.S. Jobs Does Apple Really Create? Retrieved

January 30, 2018, from

https://www.npr.org/2012/03/06/148049517/how-many-u-s-jobs-does-apple-really-create

Driver, J. (2014, September 22). The History of Utilitarianism. Retrieved February 15, 2018,

from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/

Job Creation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.apple.com/job-creation/

John Deere, State Public Affairs. (n.d.). Kansas HB 2122: Digital Electronic Repair

Requirements [Press release]. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from

https://www.scribd.com/document/339340098/John-Deere-letter

Kottasova, I. (2017, December 21). Apple: Yes, we're slowing down older iPhones. Retrieved

February 09, 2018, from

http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/21/technology/apple-slows-down-old-iphones/index.html

?iid=EL

Kumar, A. (2015, October 22). The Lithium Battery Recycling Challenge. Retrieved January 30,

2018, from

https://waste-management-world.com/a/1-the-lithium-battery-recycling-challenge

Lack of Property Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2018, from

http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Market_failures/Lack_of_property_rights.html

Planned Obsolescence. (2009, March 23). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from

http://www.economist.com/node/13354332

Rossmann, L. [Louis Rossmann]. (2015, September 16). Apple uses spite to force planned
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obsolescence. Watch $750 tier 4 repair performed with $2 in parts. [Video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVAmnV65_zw

Rossmann, L. [Louis Rossmann]. (2016, June 30). i have no title for this (update: I am NOT

getting sued). [Video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7N254MTA4Q

Rossmann, L. [Louis Rossmann]. (2015, December 5). iPhone screen repair is a dying business.

[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgYR37nSZ1M

Skelton, A. (2012, June 19). William David Ross. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/william-david-ross/#RosDisMorFraRigGoo

The Repair Association. (n.d.). The Environment. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from

https://repair.org/the-environment/

Toh, M., Geier, B., & Kottasova, I. (2018, February 1). Global backlash spreads over Apple

slowing down iPhones. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from

http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/12/technology/apple-iphone-slow-battery-lawsuit/index.ht

ml

Turner, K. (2016, June 17). Apple wants to kill a bill that could make it easier for you to fix your

iPhone. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/17/apple-wants-to-kill-a-

bill-that-could-make-it-easier-for-you-to-fix-your-iphone/?utm_term=.d903b08619af

Yeomans, J. (2016, July 20). Revealed: The Biggest Companies in the World in 2016. Retrieved

February 15, 2018, from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/20/revealed-the-biggest-companies-in-the-
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world-in-2016/