From Planned Obsolescence to the Circular Economy in the Smartphone Industry: An Evolution of Strategies Embodied in Product Features

Barros, Mário; Dimla, Eric

doi:10.1017/pds.2021.422

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The R2R movement has gained momentum in recent years as planned obsolescence , the intentioned fragility of consumer goods, has also become a dominant approach to manufacturing within the electronics industry (Barros & Dimla, 2021). Like the policies described above, advocates of the R2R are driven, in large part, by the desire to extend the life of consumer goods as a means of reducing e‐waste.…”

Section: Literature Review Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multisolving innovations: How digital equity, e‐waste, and right‐to‐repair policies can increase the supply of affordable computers

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Policy debates about the digital divide often focus on the availability and quality of Internet access, despite the fact that device inequities are persistent and widespread. To address this important but often overlooked policy concern, we present findings from a systematic literature review of policy research that informs the supply of low‐cost, large‐screen computers. Using the framework of multisolving innovations, we explore policies from across three disparate sectors—e‐waste, right‐to‐repair, and digital inclusion—to determine whether any of these policies can serve as cross‐sector solutions that work simultaneously to help reduce digital inequalities and e‐waste, while strengthening secondhand device labor markets. As a result, we highlight a wide range of policies that would optimize both the supply and distribution of affordable devices to low‐income consumers and, at the same time, broaden the base of stakeholders invested in digital equity.

show abstract

Section: Literature Review Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multisolving innovations: How digital equity, e‐waste, and right‐to‐repair policies can increase the supply of affordable computers

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Barros and Dimla (2021) categorize the causes for premature replacement of smartphones into three interrelated tiers: hardware, firmware, and software. Hardware‐related issues include parts engineered to a certain life cycle (e.g., the number of charging cycles for a battery), complex product architectures, joining methods that hinder the repairability and upgradeability of devices and the resistance of parts to use (e.g., accidental drops) (Cordella et al., 2021).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Repair can be improved in the design phase with a design for disassembly approach for key modules, in the market phase by providing access to services and information, and in the use phase through consumer education by providing information on the use, maintenance, and repair of smartphones. Barros and Dimla (2021) categorize the causes for premature replacement of smartphones into three interrelated tiers: hardware, firmware, and software. Hardware-related issues include parts engineered to a certain life cycle (e.g., the number of charging cycles for a battery), complex product architectures, joining methods that hinder the repairability and upgradeability of devices and the resistance of parts to use (e.g., accidental drops) (Cordella et al, 2021).…”

Section: Repair and Production Philosophiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The qualitative assessment aims to provide insights with respect to the impact of the five criteria in the final score in the French IoR, with a particular focus on CT2 and CT5. The assessment of CT2 provides clues for further enquiry into industrial design features’ influence on repairability; thus, these features are directly related to hardware failure (Barros & Dimla, 2021; Cordella et al., 2021; Flipsen et al., 2019). The assessment of CT5 enables the consideration of practices that fall within the scope of firmware and software obsolescence (Barros & Dimla, 2021; Sandborn, 2007).…”

Section: Analysis Of the Indexes Of Repairability Of Smartphonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Smartphone repairability indexes in practice: Linking repair scores to industrial design features

Barros

Dimla

2023

J of Industrial Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Policymaking mediates the relationships between manufacturers and consumers, thus defining the boundaries for the philosophies of production set forth by major companies. Research states that policymaking falls short in addressing the waste issues, natural resources consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and other negative impacts posed by premature obsolescence; only recently have the "right-to-repair" guidelines demanded by environmental organizations and communities of citizens been included in policymaking. The introduction of the Index of Repairability in France as information at the point of sale aims to inform consumers and support their decision-making in purchasing more repairable products. In this paper, we consider the two Indexes of Repairability publicly available to consumers-in the French legislation and iFixit-and assess their application to smartphones from three manufacturers. The study establishes links between the scores and the industrial design features that promote or hinder repairability, service factors and information for self-repair, authorized repair, and independent repair. Data collection considers the available information for consumers and citizens by using netnography and secondary data from manufacturers, policymakers, and communities of users. Our findings suggest that higher scores that indicate easier repairability are not limited to product architectures that follow design for disassembly guidelines. Smartphones that are difficult to repair can still score high, and thus be perceived as easier to repair, if manufacturers provide high quality and affordable service. This paper discusses the results of the ongoing development of repairability scores for smartphones, thus suggesting paths for future research to improve methods and policies to support a longer lifetime of products.

show abstract

“…Mellal [22] compares and contrasts different definitions of 'obsolete' and 'obsolescence' and distinguishes between types of obsolescence such as 'technological', 'functional', 'style' and 'planned'. Planned obsolescence is a contentious issue [4,8,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Device Usefulness - How Useful is an Obsolete Device?

Goodwin,

Woolley,

de Quincey

et al. 2023

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Obsolete devices add to the rising levels of electronic waste, a major environmental concern, and a contributing factor to climate change. In recent years, device manufacturers have established environmental commitments and launched initiatives such as supporting the recycling of obsolete devices by making more ways available for consumers to safely dispose of their old devices. However, little support is available for individuals who want to continue using legacy or 'end-of-life' devices and few studies have explored the usefulness of these older devices, the barriers to their continued use and the associated user experiences. With a human-computer interaction lens, this paper reflects on device usefulness as a function of utility and usability, and on the barriers to continued device use and app installation. Additionally, the paper contributes insights from a sequel study that extends on prior work evaluating app functionality of a 'vintage' Apple device with new empirical data on app downloadability and functionality for the same device when newly classified as 'obsolete'. A total of 230 apps, comprising the top 10 free App Store apps for each of 23 categories, were assessed for downloadability and functionality on an Apple iPad Mini tablet. Although only 20 apps (8.7%) could be downloaded directly onto the newly obsolete device, 143 apps (62.2%) could be downloaded with the use of a different non-legacy device. Of these 163 downloadable apps, 131 apps (comprising 57% of all 230 apps and 80.4% of the downloadable apps) successfully installed, opened, and functioned. This was a decrease of only 4.3% in functional apps (of the 230 total apps) compared to the performance of the device when previously classified as 'vintage'.

show abstract

From Planned Obsolescence to the Circular Economy in the Smartphone Industry: An Evolution of Strategies Embodied in Product Features

Cited by 14 publications

References 18 publications

Multisolving innovations: How digital equity, e‐waste, and right‐to‐repair policies can increase the supply of affordable computers

Multisolving innovations: How digital equity, e‐waste, and right‐to‐repair policies can increase the supply of affordable computers

Smartphone repairability indexes in practice: Linking repair scores to industrial design features

Quantifying Device Usefulness - How Useful is an Obsolete Device?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About