Recharge Repair

A new survey released by CALPIRG shows that interest in additional phone repair options surged as battery issues with iPhones made headlines, and also notes scale of phone waste.

Report

A new survey released today by CALPIRG, “Recharge Repair,” found a surge in consumer demand for phone repair following the revelation Apple was slowing phones with older batteries. “Recharge Repair” identifies the barriers to battery replacement and phone repair that added to long repair delays for consumers. The findings support the need for Right to Repair reforms to grant consumers and third parties access to the parts and tools to repair cell phones and other electronics.

Among the findings were:

  • We surveyed 164 independent repair businesses who reported a 37% increase in weekly battery replacement service requests since Dec. 20.
  • Self-repair interest surged as well – traffic to iPhone battery repair instructions went up 153%. 180,000 people viewed instructions in between Dec. 20 and Jan. 22
  • eWaste is a growing concern. America throws out an estimated 350,000 cell phones per day, or 141 million phones tossed each year.