Trend watch: Product durability standards & right to repair in 2026 — signals, winners, and red flags

The right to repair movement has shifted from grassroots activism to enforceable law faster than most industry observers predicted. By early 2026, over 40 jurisdictions worldwide have enacted or proposed repair-related legislation, and the EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is beginning to impose mandatory durability scores on product categories ranging from smartphones to washing machines. Meanwhile, repair revenues in the US consumer electronics market alone reached $4.2 billion in 2025, a 28% increase from 2023, signaling that repairability is becoming a genuine market force rather than a regulatory afterthought.

Why It Matters

Product durability standards and right-to-repair legislation address one of the circular economy's most stubborn bottlenecks: the premature disposal of functional goods. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that extending the average lifespan of products by just 50% could cut associated material emissions by 30%. For manufacturers, the shift demands rethinking design, spare parts logistics, and aftermarket service models. For consumers and businesses purchasing equipment, repair access directly impacts total cost of ownership. And for policymakers, durability requirements represent one of the most tangible levers for reducing waste volumes. In 2026, the question is no longer whether repair rights will become standard practice but how quickly markets will adapt and which companies will capture the value.

Key Concepts

Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR): The EU's framework regulation replacing the older Ecodesign Directive. ESPR establishes mandatory requirements for product durability, repairability, recyclability, and energy efficiency across a growing list of product categories. Digital Product Passports are a core component.

Repairability Index/Score: A standardized rating system that quantifies how easy a product is to repair. France pioneered a mandatory repairability index in 2021, scoring products from 0 to 10 based on documentation availability, disassembly ease, spare part availability, pricing, and software support. The EU is now adopting similar scoring under ESPR.

Planned Obsolescence: The deliberate design of products to have a limited useful life, either through material degradation, software restrictions, or spare part unavailability. Several EU member states have made planned obsolescence a criminal offense, with fines reaching 5% of annual revenue.

Digital Product Passport (DPP): An electronic record containing information about a product's composition, repairability, recycled content, and environmental footprint. Under ESPR, DPPs will be required for batteries (2027), textiles (2027), and electronics (2028).

Independent Repair Market: The ecosystem of third-party repair shops, refurbishment operations, and individual repair practitioners who service products outside manufacturer-authorized networks. This market is the primary beneficiary of right-to-repair legislation.

What's Working

France's repairability index is demonstrably shifting manufacturer behavior. Since its 2021 launch, the average repairability score for smartphones sold in France increased from 5.6 to 7.2 out of 10. Samsung extended its spare parts availability commitment from 3 to 7 years for devices sold in the EU. Apple, which initially scored poorly, redesigned its iPhone internals to improve repairability, achieving a 6.8 score by 2025 compared to 4.6 at launch.

US state-level repair laws are creating a patchwork that drives national compliance. By early 2026, 32 US states have introduced right-to-repair bills, and 11 have enacted laws covering electronics, agricultural equipment, or medical devices. Rather than maintaining separate compliance regimes, major manufacturers like John Deere and Microsoft have adopted nationwide repair access policies, effectively making the most stringent state law the de facto national standard.

Independent repair ecosystems are scaling professionally. iFixit's parts and tools marketplace surpassed $200 million in annual revenue in 2025. The company's repair guides have been viewed over 400 million times, and its partnership with Samsung to provide genuine spare parts demonstrated that OEM-independent repair partnerships are commercially viable. In Europe, repair cafe networks now operate in 38 countries with over 3,000 locations, processing an estimated 1.5 million repair attempts annually.

What's Not Working

Spare parts pricing remains a significant barrier despite improved availability. While legislation has forced manufacturers to make parts available, pricing is largely unregulated. A 2025 study by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) found that OEM replacement parts for common household appliances cost an average of 65% of the price of a new unit, making repair economically irrational for many consumers. France's bonus reparation subsidy (up to EUR 60 per repair) partially addresses this, but most jurisdictions lack similar incentives.

Software locks and firmware restrictions continue to undermine hardware repairability. Even where physical repair is possible, software pairing and parts serialization limit what independent repairers can accomplish. Apple's parts pairing system, which ties components to specific device serial numbers, has drawn regulatory scrutiny but remains in use for select components. Agricultural equipment manufacturers continue to require dealer-authorized software activation after hardware repairs, a practice that John Deere pledged to phase out but has implemented slowly.

Small and mid-sized manufacturers struggle with compliance costs. ESPR requirements for durability testing, DPP creation, and spare parts logistics impose disproportionate costs on smaller producers. A 2025 survey by SMEunited found that 42% of small manufacturers in the EU had not begun ESPR compliance planning, citing a lack of technical resources and unclear implementation timelines.

KPIs to Watch

Metric	2023 Baseline	2025 Current	2027 Target
Average product repairability score (EU)	5.2/10	6.4/10	7.5/10
US states with enacted repair laws	4	11	20+
Spare parts availability period (years, electronics)	3	5	7
Consumer repair rate (% choosing repair over replacement)	22%	29%	40%
Independent repair shop revenue growth (YoY)	12%	18%	22%
Products covered by ESPR durability requirements	0	5 categories	15+ categories

Key Players

Established Leaders

• Apple: Launched Self Service Repair program in 2022, now covering iPhones, Macs, and iPads across 35 countries. Provides genuine parts, tools, and manuals to individual consumers and independent repair shops.
• Samsung: Partnership with iFixit for genuine parts distribution. Extended spare parts availability to 7 years for mobile devices. Achieved top-tier repairability scores in France's index.
• Bosch/Siemens (BSH): Committed to 10-year spare parts availability for all home appliances. Operates a direct-to-consumer parts sales platform with repair video tutorials.
• John Deere: Signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation in 2023 committing to expanded repair access. Providing diagnostic tools and software to independent repair shops for agricultural equipment.

Emerging Startups

• iFixit: Leading repair advocacy organization and parts marketplace. Publishes open-source repair guides, operates a spare parts store, and consults with manufacturers on design for repairability.
• Back Market: European refurbished electronics marketplace valued at $5.7 billion. Processes over 5 million devices annually through its network of certified refurbishers.
• Fairphone: Modular smartphone manufacturer designing explicitly for repairability. Achieved a 10/10 on France's repairability index, the highest score for any smartphone.
• Swappie: Finnish refurbished smartphone specialist operating across 15 European markets. Raised $108 million to scale refurbishment operations.

Key Investors and Funders

• European Commission: EUR 1.8 billion allocated through Horizon Europe and LIFE programs for circular economy innovation including repair infrastructure and DPP development.
• Goldman Sachs: Lead investor in Back Market's $510 million Series E round, signaling institutional confidence in the refurbishment economy.
• Norrsken Foundation: Backing multiple repair-tech startups in the Nordic region focused on scaling independent repair logistics.

Red Flags to Monitor

Greenwashing through superficial repairability claims. As repair scores become marketing tools, manufacturers may optimize for scoring criteria without meaningfully improving real-world repairability. Watch for high repairability scores on products where spare parts are technically available but prohibitively expensive or impractically difficult to install without specialized tools.

Regulatory fragmentation across jurisdictions. The lack of harmonized international repair standards creates compliance complexity. Products designed for EU ESPR requirements may not satisfy US state-specific mandates, and vice versa. A global ISO standard for repairability scoring is under development but unlikely before 2028.

Manufacturer consolidation of the repair market. Some OEMs are responding to repair legislation by creating proprietary authorized repair networks that technically satisfy legal requirements while still limiting true independent repair access. If authorized programs require expensive certifications or exclusive tool purchases, the practical effect may be market consolidation rather than repair democratization.

Liability and safety concerns limiting repair scope. Manufacturers are pushing back on repair access for products with lithium batteries, high-voltage components, or safety-critical systems (medical devices, automotive braking systems), arguing that unqualified repair creates safety risks. These arguments have merit in some cases but may be used broadly to carve out exceptions that undermine repair rights.

Action Checklist

• Audit your product portfolio against ESPR durability and repairability requirements for applicable categories
• Establish or expand spare parts availability programs with transparent pricing structures
• Evaluate Digital Product Passport readiness for products entering EU markets
• Map independent repair networks in key markets and assess partnership opportunities
• Benchmark repairability scores against competitors using France's index methodology
• Review software and firmware policies for components that restrict independent repair
• Model the revenue impact of aftermarket repair services versus new product sales
• Track state-level US repair legislation for jurisdictions where you sell products

FAQ

Which product categories does ESPR cover first? The EU's ESPR is phasing in requirements by product category. Batteries, textiles, and electronics are the initial priority categories with mandatory requirements expected between 2027 and 2028. Iron and steel, plastics, and furniture are in subsequent waves. The regulation framework allows the Commission to add new categories through delegated acts.

Does right to repair mean manufacturers must share all proprietary information? Not necessarily. Most repair legislation requires access to diagnostic tools, spare parts, repair manuals, and software updates. Trade secrets and proprietary design details are typically excluded. The balance between repair access and intellectual property protection remains one of the most actively debated aspects of legislation.

How does the right to repair affect product warranties? In the EU and most US states with repair laws, manufacturers cannot void warranties solely because a consumer used an independent repair provider or non-OEM parts, as long as the repair itself did not cause the subsequent issue. The US Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act already provides some protections, and recent legislation strengthens enforcement.

What is the business case for designing repairable products? Beyond regulatory compliance, repairable design can generate aftermarket revenue through spare parts sales and service contracts, increase customer loyalty and brand trust, qualify products for green public procurement preferences, and reduce warranty costs through modular component replacement rather than full-unit swaps. Fairphone reports that its modular design reduced warranty claim costs by 30% compared to industry averages.

Sources

1. European Commission. "Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation: Implementation Roadmap." Official Journal of the European Union, 2025.
2. Ellen MacArthur Foundation. "The Circular Economy Opportunity: Extending Product Lifetimes." EMF, 2024.
3. BEUC (European Consumer Organisation). "The Repair Gap: Spare Parts Pricing and Consumer Access." BEUC, 2025.
4. iFixit. "State of Repair: Annual Market Report 2025." iFixit, 2025.
5. US PIRG Education Fund. "Right to Repair: State Legislative Tracker 2026." US PIRG, 2026.
6. French Ministry of Ecological Transition. "Repairability Index: Three-Year Impact Assessment." Ministere de la Transition ecologique, 2025.
7. SMEunited. "ESPR Compliance Readiness Survey: Small Manufacturers." SMEunited, 2025.