One year after the EU’s repairability rules for smartphones and tablets came into effect, more than 80% of devices still lack necessary repair information, according to European Right to Repair. The vast majority of manufacturers do not provide this data to owners, even though they set the highest serviceability ratings for their products
Image source: Samsung
The campaign group believes that mobile devices sold in EU countries should include mandatory repairability assessments provided by the manufacturers themselves, and that device manufacturers must publish information to help users repair them. These requirements come into effect in June 2025. However, a check of the European Energy Labeling Product Register, which requires manufacturers to provide necessary information, shows that few manufacturers have so far complied with this requirement.
Activists report that only about 18% of the 2,334 records of smartphone models launched on the market last year actually listed websites where parts prices or repair instructions could be found. About half of the entries contained blank fields, and another 19% of the links pointed to product or support pages that did not contain any repair instructions or parts lists. Despite this, some non-compliant manufacturers still give themselves the highest rating and claim an A grade for repairability. In many cases, when spare parts are listed, their price range is ridiculously wide, such as 14 to 128 euros for a replacement battery.
A product’s energy efficiency label must include a repairability rating and a link to repair information, but the latter is missing from a large number of products sold in stores and online. The European Right to Repair questions the validity of the EU approach if so many devices are being sold without complying with requirements. Apparently, no government agency took the initiative to verify the declared data, as thousands of blank fields in the register went unnoticed.
But even for technically compliant products, the links provided rarely provide a direct path to part prices. For big brands like Apple and Samsung, it may take a few clicks to open the page you want. Activists also question the wisdom of allowing manufacturers to conduct their own repairability assessments and question whether consumers can trust those assessments.
“The obligation to publish prices for spare parts and repair manuals is a big step forward, but needs to be better controlled” said Thomas Opsomer, EU Policy Representative at iFixit. — Since repairability ratings are assigned by the manufacturers themselves, they should be required to publish full documentation of these ratings so that anyone can verify their performance. Reporting of violations should also be simplified for consumers and repair shops. “.
Next year, maintainability requirements will increase again. EU rules will come into effect in February requiring new mobile devices to have user-replaceable batteries, with the exception of some wearables such as smart rings.
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