THE BIGGEST ISSUE FACING THE TECH REPAIR INDUSTRY IS...

...the trade route. It effects every aspect of the tech care industry and the existing trade route needs to be broken in order for everyone in the industry to thrive. Right to Repair is an important issue but it is unlikely to move forward or help the industry until we overcome this stumbling block.

Just like the Silk Road (pictured above) trade routes have been around a long time and once established they become almost unbreakable. Trade routes still exist on a macro and micro level as an established route that traders follow all over our world. When disrupted it can cause lots of problems -- like the Ever Given that was recently stuck in the Suez Canal. The fact is trade routes often become taken for granted as the way business is done.

Modern consumers establish trade routes as well. How many of you "have" to pick up your Starbucks before work? And big, huge corporations like Starbucks or McDonalds put a lot of planning into where a location goes. They know how to find the most profitable location on the trade route of your day.

TELEPHONES, MONOPOLIES & TRADE ROUTES

Long before the modern smartphone the Bell System dominated the way people communicated in this country for well over 100 years (1877 to the 1980's) and in doing so established one of the biggest trade routes in modern times. For more than a century going to Ma Bell was the only way people knew how to get a phone, connect a phone, call another human, repair a phone, or trade it in for a new one -- which they then tossed the old ones in the trash. In 1974 the justice department finally acted against the telecom monopoly and 10 years later the Bell System was broken up into seven baby bells -- some of which still exist to this day.

Are following me on this concept? A big, huge corporation held a monopoly on an industry for more than a CENTURY. They got pretty darned good at establishing the trade route for how you get personal communications systems and what you do when you need help. Let's call this the BS (Bell System) Trade Route. 

Funny/not funny that the same year (1984) the Bell System was broken up the cell phone industry was born. Do you think maybe these big, huge corporations were thinking about how they could create a new trade route? One that would keep customers caught in a trade route loop year after year forcing them back to the carrier.

First off were contracts for service that would require you to sign up for a 2, 3 or even 5-year plan for service. Here they also built-in a service contract that said you had to come back to them if anything went wrong. New trade route, same BS as before. Then came device locks that would make it so your phone was locked to the network that you purchased it from. The cellphone carriers did everything they knew how to do to keep you engaged in their trade route. At times literally forcing you to come back to them for service.

Here's the thing though, despite all the ways that carriers tried to keep you in their trade route they didn't try to control the repair market. even for them it was a bridge too far. All the major handset makers (Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, etc.) had warranty/repair centers everywhere. The only catch was that you had to go to the carrier and get a referral to the repair center - trade route win! In the 2000's the carriers managed to get rid of these handset maker repair centers and partnered with another big, huge corporation (Flextronics) to establish a carrier warranty/repair center, which you still needed a referral to go to - trade route strengthened! 

IMPORTANT NOTE: During this period, the modern tech repair (aka, cellphone repair) industry was born to fill the void left by the handset makers.

THE NEXT BIG THING

When a new handset maker (Apple) entered the market in 2007 they designed a system that they knew well. Total and complete control of the trade route with their customers. They had been building out their own stores since 2001 and they knew people almost always go back to the place they bought electronics from when they needed help. Sales of the first iPhone were then limited almost exclusively to Apple stores -- establishing the iPhone trade route.

Sure, their partner AT&T Wireless sold some, but the largest available distribution channel were the independent AT&T Wireless stores that numbered in the thousands. Many of these small businesses were greatly damaged (myself included) because Apple wanted to control the trade route from day one. 

2ND IMPORTANT NOTE: The independent tech repair (aka, cellphone repair) industry exploded during this period. 

BREAKING THE TRADE ROUTE

This is tough in any industry but not impossible. Many a tech repair shop has had "pizza parties" or "donut parties" at carrier stores to gently persuade employees to send repair customers to them. Some blatantly bribe store employees to do so as well. Apple stores, however, are off limits to these types of "partnering" efforts. They also have the biggest number of repair customers by far (see earlier blog post, Repair Industry Research - Apple Needs Us).

Many other industries have had their trade routes disrupted. The taxi and limousine industries got UBERed. Video rental stores tried to collect late fees from Netflix and failed. Independent bookstores were hit by big box stores and then Amazon tried to drown them - but they have been making a comeback. Why, you ask?

At the heart of the resurgence of the independent bookstore is the American Booksellers Association (ABA). Who have helped their members communicate a message to customers that shopping at a LOCAL independent bookstore is always a better option than buying from a big, huge corporation, like Amazon. The ABA's goals include working to "ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book."

In an NPR interview titled Indie Bookstores, Once on the Verge of Disappearing, Are Making a Comeback a Harvard Professor and the President of the ABA outline a plan for making independent businesses more successful against corporate giants like Amazon. Lessons that could be used as a blueprint by the independent tech repair industry as well.

The new Tech Care Association is committed to the success of every member company that joins our association. Just like bookstores the independent tech repair shop is the heart and soul of the industry and helps to further those in tech refurbishing as well as tech recycle. 

In the coming weeks you will be able to read about the plans for the Tech Care Association (TCA) and how we plan to break the trade route to the OEMs and big, huge corporations that sell the tech that flows into the tech care industry. You will see that our goals are your goals!

UPDATE (4/2/21): Please don't think that I am saying that Right to Repair is not important. It is VERY important for the continued success of the tech repair industry. But it is, at best, a couple of years off -- I'll address this in a future post. Meantime I highly recommend supporting YouTube star Louis Rossmann's GoFundMe campaign titled Let's get Right to Repair passed!

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