New rules say something obvious, but never said enough.

It seems that Germany wants smartphone makers to offer 7 years of software updates, and maybe spare parts too.

The EU proposed a new law earlier this year that would force all smartphone OEMs to offer up to five years of security updates for their devices and deliver reasonably priced spare parts for the same duration.

Although the EU’s new right to repair laws are yet to go into effect, the German Federal Government has now announced plans to extend the support timeline by two years, plus demanding OEMs to publish the spare part prices and not increase them over time.

This because, says here:

“a lengthy repair time could force customers to opt for an exchange rather than a repair, defeating the purpose of the new regulations”.

Rarely things so trivial but so important have been said, at least in the consumer rights field. To understand why it is important, that is why smartphones and similar devices should last decades, not just seven years, read here and then here.

For more details about this last German proposal, instead, see here, which is also the source for the screenshot I used.