EU wants to force smartphone makers to offer more updates
Sustainable smartphones, such is the ambition of the European Union, which is considering imposing a legal minimum for the duration of software monitoring and the availability of spare parts.
We reported to you a few days ago that the European Union wants to improve the battery life of our smartphones and tablets so that consumers can benefit from more durable products that they can keep for longer. An interesting ambition both for the environment and for the customer portfolio.
But to keep your mobile device longer, it must also benefit from serious software monitoring, and the EU is well aware of this. It therefore proposes the obligation for smartphone manufacturers to offer at least three years of feature updates and at least five years of security updates on their devices. Currently, very few brands achieve this goal. On Android, only Samsung and Google already seem to meet this standard for their Galaxy and Pixel. Apple’s iPhones also meet this requirement.
Five years of security updates and spare parts for repairs
Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, realme or OnePlus will therefore have to adapt if the regulations are adapted by the EU. This could force them to increase the price of their products, or to launch fewer different models on the European market each year in order to have the resources to ensure the legal software monitoring imposed.
Still with the aim of increasing the lifespan of our phones, the EU is considering the possibility of forcing manufacturers to offer consumers spare parts for a period of five years after the release of a product. This would encourage people to repair their device rather than buying a new one.
Whether for software updates, repair parts or smartphone batteries, we are currently only at the stage of thinking. Debates are still to take place and there is no doubt that modifications will be applied to the texts currently envisaged. These may never even see the light of day.
Source: SamMobile
