Engadget is reporting on Samsung’s case at the International Trade Commission (ITC) that it claims may hurt the right to repair movement just as it is taking off.
Several businesses are named in Samsung’s complaint, including MobileSentrix, Injured Gadgets and DFW Cellphone & Parts. Many offer wholesale parts and equipment to other repair companies, as well as their own over-the-counter repair service. Samsung wants the ITC to issue orders blocking the importation of these replacement display parts at the border. It has also requested that the named companies be ordered to stop importing, selling or using the products in question.
Engadget
To put it in perspective, Engadget is picking up on Louis Rossman’s take on the subject, and Rossman has his own web of repair services, as well as some 1.78 million subscribers to his YouTube channel where he proselytizes on the right to repair. Let me just put it this way: the aftermarket and the repair of Apple products, in particular, and all modern smartphones and computers, is a mess. When it comes to your phone’s display, it is probably worse than anything else. One bad drop and you are left with a $1,000 brick. Samsung is protecting its display patents and says that they will supply the aftermarket with product, no problem, they just don’t want cheap knockoffs in the market. Well, that’s great. But, we’ll believe it when we see it.
