Right to Repair: Turning Radical Innovation Into Business Value
The consumer electronics sector is on the brink of a fundamental shift. As environmental regulations tighten and consumer preferences change, your brand can’t afford to view sustainability as an afterthought or mere compliance exercise. Indeed, with rules being redefined, now is the moment to seize a rare opportunity to carve out lasting competitive advantage and business value.
Many industry players still believe that sustainability regulations are a burden, that "right to repair" laws don’t apply to their product category, or that a nascent market footprint exempts them from scrutiny. Some still treat circularity as a niche instead of an opportunity to drive positive customer engagement.
These are all big mistakes. Consumer sentiment is shifting to an expectation of longer-life products and an appetite for pre-owned devices. The smarter strategy is to unlock new revenues by embracing the radical change that is coming, enabled by technology, shaped by legislation and demanded by consumers.
At Cambridge Consultants (CC), our mantra is to be transformative — to apply a bold mindset that harnesses radical science and engineering to help our clients achieve things no one else can. It’s certainly the approach I’d advocate right now. Why? Simply because the key to navigating and thriving through the consumer electronics transformation lies in breakthrough product innovation — a prospect we expand upon on our website.
Legislation Looms
In Europe, the EU Batteries Regulation (2023/1542) requires that all portable batteries be easily replaceable by the end user, starting February 2027. The window to apply for an exemption for this under Commission Notice C/2025/214 has passed, and many manufacturers will need to change their products ahead of that date.
One dangerous misconception is that this legislation (which falls within the right to repair) doesn’t apply to high-end or niche product categories — smart glasses, wearables or compact consumer devices. But the scope is broad, and exceptions are not yet defined. Non-compliance could ultimately mean restricted access to key markets, reputational damage or outright product bans.
Let’s look a little closer at smart glasses. To scale beyond early adopters, they must be robust, serviceable devices that can be disposed of responsibly, without compromise of form or function.
But how will you ensure users can replace a tiny battery, regardless of their motor skills? How can you design your UX and product ecosystem to make the product disposal process delightful? And how can this be done without compromising carefully considered industrial design?
It all demands switching to a bold strategy that creates long-term value from technology that’s hard to copy. It requires an unusual breadth of engineering and science skills, closely coupled with business thinking. This is what we at CC call "deep tech" strategy.
Intimacy and Loyalty
The circular economy is often framed in logistical or environmental terms — reuse, recycling, remanufacturing. But it also presents a powerful tool for customer engagement, particularly at the end of the product lifecycle, which is underutilized for establishing meaningful brand-consumer experiences.
Consumers increasingly want to understand where their products come from, how they’re made and how they can be responsibly maintained or returned. A OnePoll survey from November 2024 found that four in 10 shoppers aged 18-27 estimate 75% of their purchases will be pre-owned in three years, while Vinted recently surpassed major players to become the leading clothing retailer in France.
The rise of pre-owned presents an opportunity. By creating positive brand experiences near the end of product life, leveraged by technology, you could build stronger allegiances with consumers for end-of-life and pre-owned items and be on the front foot for ensuring quality and limiting risk of brand damage for pre-owned devices. Here, too, a deep tech strategy can take advantage of this opportunity.
Take the Digital Product Passport (DPP) for example. This EU legislation will apply to batteries and textiles from 2027, but will eventually apply to electronics. Companies can deploy first-of-a-kind innovations to create dynamic, tamper-proof product histories. These offer consumers and partners trust, traceability and new insights into the value and longevity of devices.
Better Brand Interactions
Intelligent consumer end-of-life guidance, coupled with product design innovation, could also help you minimize extended producer responsibility burdens, turning a negative experience into a positive brand interaction. Smart sensors and embedded diagnostics, meanwhile, could anticipate when a device needs repair, giving you foresight of spare part supply while providing valuable brand-consumer touchpoints.
Sustainable consumer electronics are also about better business models. Consider hardware-as-a-service. AI and machine learning allow precise tracking of usage patterns and predictive maintenance, making pay-per-use models viable at scale. Robotics and additive manufacturing can support localized repair hubs. Quantum computing could eventually revolutionize supply chain optimization, dramatically reducing waste.
So, to conclude, it’s time to ditch outdated mindsets. Regulations are not a burden; they’re a blueprint for modernization. Right to repair is not niche; it’s a gateway to trust and longevity. And circularity is not just an aspiration, it’s an opportunity to transform brand-consumer intimacy.
If you’re with me on this, check out more of our thinking here on how radical science and engineering can solve your toughest challenges. And if you think CC might be able to help you turn sustainability pressure points into commercial advantage, let’s talk.
