On average, popular phones, tablets and laptops are relatively easy to fix, but the market may be trending toward less repairable designs, a recent analysis found.
On average, popular phones, tablets and laptops are relatively easy to fix, but the market may be trending toward less repairable designs, a recent analysis found.
Whenever Apple indicates a new product release, device-recovery firms join in on the wider consumer market chatter. But in the runup to this fall’s release of the next iPhone, the recycling and repair buzz – and anxiety – is even more charged than normal.
The market for refurbished electronic devices is growing and that means more players are entering the supply chain. With that can come more risk, not just for companies buying inventory to repair, but for everyone in the chain.
A year ago, a federal official temporarily granted individuals and companies alike the right to unlock used phones and tablets. Now, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is asking to make that ruling permanent.
The Librarian of Congress has determined it is now illegal to unlock mobile phones, leaving many in the burgeoning mobile device refurbishment business scrambling to determine how the law will affect their business.
Apple recovered around 61 million pounds of e-scrap in 2015, according to the company. Continue Reading
A used electronics trading company was raided and shut down after officials filed a lawsuit accusing it of running a “bait and switch” scheme on consumers.
A business based in the Pacific Northwest is emphasizing the “mobile” in mobile device repair. Portland, Ore.-based iFix King brings its repair lab to the customer, fixing electronics on the spot.
The second of quarter of 2016 bought $40 million worth of good news to Outerwall, the parent company of ecoATM and Gazelle.
Worldwide shipments of new mobile phones will increase 3.1 percent in 2016, a substantial slowdown from growth in previous years, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).