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They've fixed a conduit, they haven't fixed the cause of demand. This scam was a natural side effect of Apple completely locking down their parts supply chain.
by oliwarner 8y ago
They've fixed a conduit, they haven't fixed the cause of demand.
This scam was a natural side effect of Apple completely locking down their parts supply chain. We've seen from Linus Tech Tips and Louis Rossmann that it's nigh-on-impossible to legitimately purchase parts without becoming a Apple Authorized Service Provider. Even when you've gone that far, some parts are on a one-in-one-out policy. Running a repair shop where you can't keep spares on site is crippling. And becoming and remaining an AASP is an lengthy and recurrently expensive process. None of this is compatible with those generic stalls that can replace your screen for £20, or the DIY market on eBay and beyond.
All these users want parts that Apple won't supply. This demand creates a vacuum that black and grey markets are all too happy to fill. By that point people don't care where the parts came from, as long as they do the job. I'm not defending anything here. They are stealing (and elsewhere, illegally copying products) from Apple to supply a black market demand. I'm just pointing out that leaving a demand unsatisfied causes its own problems.
If Apple just sold parts direct to market, they'd solve 90% of this problem overnight. I'd happily pay more than the Ebay crap because I'd know they were genuine parts.
Edit: Tuned.
- a2tech 8y agoNo, selling parts for the repair market was a nice extra for these people. This is theft straight up—if you read the article the theives would buy new phones, strip out anything easy to remove (for the repair market you’d assume), and then return the phone for a brand new phone which they’d sell. This is fraud not a right to repair issue.
- cptskippy 8y agoI think what he's saying is that there's a consumer demand for these parts because Apple refuses to sell them outside of their walled garden. It's like illegal drugs, the people producing, smuggling, and selling them are all breaking laws and considered criminals and their motivation is consumer demand. OP isn't justifying the criminal's behavior, just suggesting that the illegal market would evaporate overnight if Apple sold these parts to anyone.
- AllenKids 8y agoAnd he would be wrong. Remember, these criminals essentially get these parts for "free", they can undercut Apple even if Apple sells at cost. And Apple never sells anything at cost.
- oliwarner 8y agoWould I? If we consider that practically everything available for sale right now is also available illegally, for less, why don't people do all their shopping on the black market? Western society is pretty conformist. Give us a legitimate way to purchase something and most of us will feel more comfortable using it. Even if that means paying more. The people selling these boards had the market to themselves.
- sbov 8y agoJust like reputable shops don't sell stolen goods, reputable repair shops wouldn't use stolen parts. I mean, yeah, they would be cheaper, but that's the case for anything stolen. Yet we don't have an epidemic of all shops in the USA selling stolen goods they got for cheap.
- tw04 8y agoFor the shop if your options are: buy stolen parts or close your business... you're probably going to buy the stolen parts until you get caught.
- oliwarner 8y agoThese guys are stealing parts to supply a black market (which exists because there is a demand that Apple will not sate). I didn't say anything about "right to repair" but if there were one, I can only imagine that would come with a demand that electronics manufacturers make parts available (which would obsolesce the black market).