Like many electronic products, the aftermarket and accessory business for mobile phones took off pretty smartly, and is now incredibly expansive, one of the largest of its kind – you'll be hard pressed to go into any electrical store, visit any website or maybe petrol-station and not find a line of in-car chargers, charging cables. You’ll be offered just about anything for either Apple or Android, pending the outlet, but the burning question is – are you able to trust it to last?
Apple have their ‘Made for i-Phone’ sub-brand, Samsung have kept it pretty much to the case that they only prefer you to shop for their products, and don’t have a set-up like Apple. Samsung would very much like people to buy their own products, but whilst they haven’t gone down the same route as Apple, they have gone down a wholly different path – they’ve allowed other companies to modify their existing products with their authorization. An interesting side industry has emerged from this too – they’ve included the refurbishing of handsets, which in itself is to be applauded as it is reducing electronic waste and seeing the life of phones being extended. With the amount of R&D that has been expended into devices that have more computer power than the first rocket that went into space, that is a very good thing...One of the trade-offs of this is that by doing so, it’s implementing and utilizing a bit of UK legislation called The Waste Electrical and equipment Directive (WEEE) that was brought into effect in 2007, the aim of which was to encourage manufacturing processes that allowed electronic goods to possess their life extended in a very feasible manner and reduce waste and ultimately landfill. The arrangement also allows for handsets to be adapted for various markets, and not restricted to the geographical region for which it was originally intended.
With innovative thinking there can be risk, and Samsung themselves have had concerns that such modified unit’s quality might not be to the standard set by themselves, specifically those being imported to Europe. This is reflective of Apples own thinking (see our blog https://www.couriersdepot.com/post/mfi-how-we-choose-tech-accessories) and hence their setting up of the ‘Made for I-Phone’ program. Some handsets for instance, have had counterfeit three pin plugs put fitted in exchange the two pin plugs, and in so doing don’t meet the legal rules as set down by Samsung. Samsung’s concerns don’t just rest there – it was found that packaging had been removed damaging units, but even more than that, suspicion that on occasion the all-important software may have been updated against the accordance and procedures of Samsung. This does somewhat run counter to Samsung’s efforts to achieve greater longevity to its products and so fulfill the objectives of its own sustainability program. The end result is that the consumer who buys such accessories won’t be covered by Samsung’s warranty program if it fails, and these are not cheap phones...
So, what is one to do? You don’t want to risk it – having an accessory fail in the middle of a 250-parcel round is definitely not where you want to be, or a phone for that matter...We’re not saying don’t buy a modified product, but just do a little research beforehand so that you know what to look out for and know exactly what you’re buying.
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